Only the Forgotten
by kayura sanada
Summary: Suzalulu, post-R2. It seems there was still an Immortal, and the woman may just be the one threat that reveals everything, destroying the peace Lelouch gave his mortality for and the friend for whom he was willing to risk everything else.
1. A New Beginning

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass or these songs? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid?

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Prologue

A New Beginning

* * *

><p>"No<br>You'll never be alone  
>When darkness comes you know I'm never far<br>Hear the whispers in the dark"

- Skillet, "Whispers in the Dark"

* * *

><p>He looked out from beneath the safety of his cowl as the train bumped along the tracks. Nobody seemed to notice, but he couldn't trust luck. Moving out in the open was dangerous and foolhardy, and with what he'd done, it would be even more difficult to follow up the rumors C.C. had heard. He frowned. Still, it had needed to be done.<p>

C.C. came back then, sitting next to him and fluffing her yellow skirt. He smirked. The woman hated skirts. "No one," she told him, keeping her eyes toward the front, and he nodded. For now, they were safe. They would have to take a different train, which would mean a long wait. Still... "You aren't a martyr anymore, you know. You don't need to be doing this."

"No. I must always do this."

She just sighed.

Someone got up from behind them, and both he and C.C. tensed. But the person moved to the back, and he heard the door to the bathroom open and close. C.C. sighed. "I'll check it out."

He nodded.

She was graceful as she slid right back out, her long hair flowing in green rivers. He watched as she spoke to someone behind them. It sounded like an old lady asking if C.C. was all right. She was laughed off. "Oh, I'm just restless." The old lady laughed and C.C. was on her way. He kept his head down. This was dangerous.

Again he pulled out the newspaper clipping. It was old and torn from the past year's abuse, but the picture was more in his mind now, and he didn't need to see it to know what it was: Zero, standing radiant over the tyrannic king's corpse. 'The hero of Justice returns!' the caption read, and under it, 'Lelouch vi Britannia dethroned a mere month after he takes command of Fleija.' Lelouch didn't bother reading anything else; he knew every word by heart. Instead he looked at Zero, the stance he had memorized, the chin lifted high. He frowned.

"He's out," C.C. said, sliding into her seat once more. He put the picture away. C.C. stretched her hands over her head. "This stop or the next?"

"The next," he said. "They'd expect this one."

She hummed. "Do you think they'll find out before we get off?"

He looked out the window. They were running through farmlands, passing row after row of greens. He tilted his gaze to the sky. It was bright, the sun strong enough to prove the summer's dawn. He rolled his shoulders. It was similar to that day, almost to a painful degree. He looked away from the window, but C.C. had caught him looking. "It's disconcerting, isn't it?"

He said nothing, just looked back. Yes, his body had been taken to a deserted farm. The building he'd been dropped near had been burned at some point; he knew it had probably been caused in some way by him. He'd been left for the birds; it was on Zero's order, the only kindness Suzaku could give him. They'd wanted his body in pieces, on a stake or hanging. Suzaku hadn't known, of course, that he yet lived, and he'd simply lain motionless until he'd been dropped. In that scorched field where soybeans had once grown, he'd found his goals reached and his life...

A loud ding informed them that the train was about to stop, and a few people behind them started grabbing their things. The movement made his shoulders itch; he'd chosen to keep his hair the same in a fit of narcissism, and it made it even more impossible for him to hide if he was seen. Yes, they'd taken quite a chance, starting this journey.

No, that wasn't true. _He_ was the one taking such a chance. He could only hope it paid off.

* * *

><p>"Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."<p>

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

* * *

><p>"Is this report accurate?"<p>

"Yes, sir, Zero. As far as we can tell."

He read over it with a frown, though of course the general couldn't see it. The report was similar to two others, both sitting in files gathering dust. The sunlight from outside glittered through the windows onto his back, heating his black cloak to fiery levels. What had Lelouch been thinking, making his outfit like this? "It says the man you found left cargo on a train. You've stopped it, I presume."

"Yes, sir, though it had made two stops before we made the connection." Suzaku let his arm fall to his side, sliding his form back inside the cloak. He'd thought Lelouch's adamance about theatrics had been absurd; he'd thought people would never fall for such shows. But here he was, a year in, and this general whom he had spoken to countless times was shifting from one foot to the other as he waited. Perhaps it was the mask. It had always slightly intimidated Suzaku, seeing it. Or maybe it was the symbol he knew himself to be. The symbol of peace and justice, love and vengeance in equal measures. Or maybe the man could just feel his frustration.

"And have you picked up these people?"

"Yes, sir. All but one. And older lady remembered seeing a young girl with odd-colored hair. She got off on the second stop."

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. Odd hair? "What color?"

"Greenish."

It _was_ her. It had been a year since he'd heard of that C.C. girl, and he had to admit that he'd been pleased to be able to simply ignore her existence. Maybe he couldn't afford to anymore. But why now? And if he remembered correctly, she could make herself invisible. Why didn't she?

"Sir?"

Suzaku handed the report back to the general. "Take this and find her, but don't confront her. Once you've found her, contact me."

Yes, sir!" The man saluted and rushed off to do as told. The door closed behind him.

Suzaku was left alone in the room again. He looked around, hardly letting himself slouch, knowing men could pop in at any time. The room was austere, if plush, with a red sofa on the opposite side of the room. He stood by the desk, a deep mahogany that may or may not have been antique. There was carpet, soft and white, though Suzaku had never felt it through Lelouch's infernal gloves. It was the sunlight that he loved, and he wished he could let his face soak in it. He hadn't been able to for a year. His permanent tan was slowly fading.

"Zero?"

He turned as the door clicked open. Nunnally sat in her wheelchair with a grin. No one stood beside her. He allowed himself to relax, just a bit. "Nunnally."

With a flick of the joystick her wheelchair moved toward him. Those eyes of hers still ate up the sight of him; he, in turn, still found himself baffled by those almost-blue irises. Somehow he'd always thought she'd have purple eyes. Like her brother.

He scowled at the thought.

"How are you? I heard General Miyamoto was here."

"He was." Suzaku leaned against the possibly-antique desk and rolled his shoulders. "Do you remember the Oomi and Takagawa cases?"

She frowned a bit as she thought. "You mean the smuggler and the rapist, right?" It still disturbed him to see her speak of such things with calmness. He remembered her as Lelouch's little sister, always kept innocent by Lelouch. He didn't know if it was her time with Schneizel that had changed her or the murder of her brother. Still she always had a smile for him, and she'd told him she knew about their conspiracy, though Suzaku was sure Lelouch hadn't told her. "Yes, I remember them. Is there a new lead?"

"No. A new victim." She didn't seem surprised. "Kawa Hiromu. Apparently he was creating and shipping armaments to those with the coin to get them."

This made those bright eyes sadden. "Even after all he did..."

Suzaku looked away. His entire body tensed. "Miyamoto did say something else. Apparently a young woman with green hair was on the train at the time the body was dumped."

Nunnally leaned forward in her chair. "Wait... you mean–"

"Yeah. It may be her."

They were silent then, each contemplating it all. "Maybe she's continuing brother's beliefs?"

Suzaku ground his teeth. "That's even more reason to stop her." Outside his window, he could see a large spread of a garden, roses and crysanthemums playing around sakura trees. He remembered when the décor had been solidly less Eastern, and how Nunnally had asked it changed without him saying a word about how disturbed the sight had made him. The layout still had a slightly Eastern feel, but at least now he didn't feel like he was surrounded on all sides.

"I don't understand," she said finally. "Why would she show herself now? And why would she write that 'Shinjitsu' thing?"

He turned once more from the windows and looked at her. Those eyebrows of hers were scrunched. "She's killed three people, Nunnally."

"It just doesn't seem to be something she'd do." Nunnally rolled forward. "Besides, I don't know how much Japanese she knows. Maybe she knows something about who killed those men, though."

He took a deep breath. If he thought about it, if he let himself calm down enough, he could see what Nunnally meant. He couldn't see that woman doing anything like this on her own initiative. But maybe it was Lelouch who'd ordered it. Just as he'd been given orders to be Zero, maybe she'd been given orders to play... some sort of vigilante. "We need to find her."

A knock came at the door then, and both turned. The general came in again, wiping back his thinning hair. "Zero. The meeting with the Chinese Federation will start soon."

"Fine. By the time I return, I want that woman found." Suzaku threw out a hand with the order, causing the cape to fly out around him. The general rushed to do as told. Suzaku pulled his hand back and curled back under the cape with a sigh.

Nunnally giggled. "You're getting good at that."

She genuinely seemed to enjoy it, so he let it go. It was at least true that he was used to the uniform now. Before it had itched and cramped despite C.C.'s modifications, and the gloves had made him uneasy, not being able to touch anything. But the most disconcerting was the cape. The gloves and such he could get used to, so long as he'd thought it was like being in Lancelot, but the cape! It was heavy and thick and cumbersome. And on hot days like this, going outside in the sun was torture.

"In any case," he said finally, "we need to find out what's happening. The peace we have is still tenuous."

Nunnally nodded. "I won't let brother's work be undone."

Suzaku's lips thinned. He didn't have such faith in Lelouch, but he wouldn't let anyone compromise the peace brought by Euphemia's death. "Let's go. They'll be waiting."

Nunnally smiled as he took a hold of her wheelchair and spun her out of the room. "Aren't they always?"

* * *

><p>"The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths."<p>

- William James

* * *

><p>The sandwich from the gas station wasn't quite what he would call edible, but it was better than some things he'd found himself eating in the past year. The streets were filled with cars at this point in the day, everyone returning to their homes. Someone placed their gas nozzle back and got into their car. He watched from under his hood. He could take the hood off, since he was hiding himself with the technique C.C. had taught him, but he found it necessary to keep hidden. It was habit now.<p>

He felt a need to move, but he couldn't do anything. Not yet. Rushing would be futile, and it wasn't as if he hadn't safeguarded against this danger, anyway. He needed to remain calm. It wasn't any different than when he'd tried to get Nunnally back.

Of course, that had failed spectacularly.

He saw C.C. then, waiting for the light to turn red before jaywalking her way past the cars. A sort of shimmering around her told him she was hidden from normal eyes, as well. She gave him a little salute as she walked up. With two more bites, the sandwich was gone. He stood. "Anything?"

She nodded. "It happened again. 'Shinjitsu,' written over your handiwork."

He frowned. His fingers clenched. "And you're certain."

"It happened once before, just as I told you."

Someone exited the gas station. He watched them get to their car and leave. His eyes scanned the road as the light turned green, then moved to gaze at the skyscrapers. His gaze caught on a picture of Zero. It was some broadcast; he couldn't hear much over the cars, but it seemed like Zero was planning to attend a meeting today. That meant people. Press. "Last time, you said she killed several leaders of the witch hunts."

"That's right. I saw her once, as I was recovering from my burns. She wrote 'Truth' beside their bodies before she left."

"Truth." He repeated the word as if testing it out. According to C.C., this white-haired woman was a stickler for it. "And she's one of us."

"That's right." She stretched her hands over her head, arched her back. "She's even older than me."

Lelouch looked up at the broadcast again, but the picture of Zero was gone, replaced by Milly. A car passed, its frame pounding the hard bass beat of a metal song. "She erases the lies, then."

"Kills them dead. Though I have to admit that I hadn't minded the idea back then." C.C. looked over to the newscast, too. "Are you sure about this? You could get caught."

Yes, he knew the risks. "I won't let her erase everything I've done."

C.C. gave him a look, the same look she'd given him when he'd said he was coming out of hiding for this. A look that said she saw beyond his words. He ignored it. Finally she sighed. "Well, I won't stop you. This past year has been dull, anyway."

The news changed to a car crash on a highway somewhere, and he dropped his gaze. They were still too far away for now, in a subsection of the city. They had no means of transportation and couldn't expect any. Going onto a bus would mean going visible again, lest they have someone try to sit in their seat. They would have to walk if they wished to remain invisible. And now that he'd killed that man on the train, people were sure to be looking for them. "Let's go."

C.C. glared, but she didn't say anything. He knew why. He was acting out of character, rushing. But so long as they never mentioned it, they would be able to continue without issue. At least they both knew by now what was and was not acceptable conversational pieces. She wouldn't bring up those he'd left behind if he didn't bring up her continued existence. They both started down the sidewalk, leaving wide berths any time crowds started to crush in on them. He pulled his hood further up. Just in case.

"I remember," C.C. said as they turned a corner, "when we thought everything was over."

He felt something in his chest clench. "It is. Something new has started."

She laughed at that, but without any cheer. "Does that mean that your wish has a finite lifespan?"

"It means that my role will never die."

She sighed. He almost felt the echo of it somewhere. He kept his eyes straight ahead. "You'll spend the rest of eternity doing this? For what?"

He said nothing. Really, the idea of eternity had yet to touch him. It had only been a year. Maybe, over time, he would lose focus. Maybe he would forget why peace was important. He never really cared about it, anyway. He'd only wanted things for himself, for Nunnally... and yes, for his friends. Throwing away everything for their sakes had been easy. Maybe in a hundred years, when they were all good and dead, he would lose his purpose. Maybe he would end up like C.C., hardly caring to choose at all, simply wanting to see an end. But he wasn't there yet. "It doesn't matter."

A crowd came as the light before them turned red, and the two of them rushed into the street. There was so much conversation behind them that it sounded like buzzing in his ears. He felt C.C.'s eyes on him. It took longer than usual for her to look away. "All right, Lelouch."

He pulled his hood further up over his head.


	2. DD

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass or these songs? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid?

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Last Note: Just FYI, I'm updating every other week. This way, hopefully, I will always have another chapter at the right time. If I give myself deadlines, I do much better. Because of this, the story with the most reviews – Memento Mori or Only the Forgotten – will be updated, starting this Saturday, until one or the other is finished. I swear I'm not trying to get reviews. I just know my own weaknesses, and am thus punching them in the face. Metaphorically. In any case, please enjoy. /bows/

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter One

D.D.

* * *

><p>"Who can say if I've been changed for the better, but<br>Because I knew you (No one mourns the wicked)  
>Because I knew you<br>I have been changed"

- Wicked, "Finale"

* * *

><p>"Thank you, Xingke," Suzaku said, and held his hand out.<p>

Xingke shook it, those eyes of his glaring at Suzaku's mask. The man's hair had grown even longer in the past year. Beside him stood Tianzi, only an inch or so taller, now standing proudly. She, too, shook his hand. "I would like to speak with Empress Nunnally and you about the new trade routes after they're completed, as well," Tianzi told him. "We should look out for attacks, just in case."

Suzaku nodded. "I agree. Until then, take care."

Tianzi nodded and walked off to speak with Nunnally, practically bouncing to the handicapped girl's side. Both Suzaku and Xingke watched her leave. "I have heard rumors of a growing issue here on the archipelago."

Suzaku turned his gaze to Xingke, but the man had yet to look at him. It was difficult to tell whether the man was offering help or heaping more blame. Still, Suzaku refused to hide such a thing from him. "Yes. A sort of vigilante, from what we can tell. The person keeps writing the Japanese symbol for truth beside the bodies."

Xingke's frown deepened. "And have you found this person?"

"No. Extra guard has been placed here for Empress Tianzi's protection." Small talk buzzed in Suzaku's ears like flies as each person in the conference tried to grab scraps of gossip from another. Even more, the costume he wore seemed to weigh on his shoulders. Lelouch hadn't lied about this, at least; Suzaku had sacrificed a lot himself. In a way, Suzaku's life really had ended that day upon the Damocles.

Nunnally and Tianzi clasped hands and laughed. It made Suzaku smile. "Is it something you need help with?" Xingke asked, his gaze still on Tianzi.

"No, not yet," Suzaku said, knowing by now the game the man was playing. Still Xingke doubted Suzaku's motives. Between his cynicism and Toudou's strange stares, Suzaku found himself constantly tense within groups. "If it continues, however, I would not be averse to assistance. If more continue to be hurt, the peace we sacrificed for will be in jeopardy."

Those dark eyes flickered to him, and almost Suzaku smiled. He saw a light of respect in that gaze. He was making progress somehow.

The rest of the mingling was simpler, as he deflected probing questions and assuaged fears. Nunnally came to stand beside him, and together they saw their guests out of the conference room and into the capable hands of their guards. Only when the room was empty did Suzaku allow his body to slump a bit. His muscles ached.

"You'll give yourself an ulcer," Nunnally said, moving her chair forward and locking the door. One quick button press sealed the windows from the outside world. Suzaku pulled off his helmet and shook his hair clear of his eyes. Nunnally watched him silently as he leaned onto the conference table and hung his head. It almost felt strange to feel the air against his skin. And unnerving. He expected someone to walk in and see him, to shout or scream, and all that they'd worked for would be gone. His gloved fingers clenched around the mask.

"I saw you and Empress Tianzi getting along," he said, and smiled at her so she knew he was happy for her. She gave him a look that said she knew he was trying to control the conversation and nodded.

"We're close in age. And she's fun." With a soft whirr she returned to his side. "She seems to have faith in you, though Xingke is advising prudence."

"Considering they all thought Lelouch to be Zero, it's not surprising." He rolled his shoulders. "Most others have embraced it, but Xingke and Toudou-san both seem to be having... doubts."

"We'll get through it." Nunnally flashed him one of her bright smiles. "There should be an update on the 'Shinjitsu' killer. Maybe we should look into that when we're done here."

He smiled. If he told her he didn't want to leave, she would wait until her bladder burst. And though he didn't want to make her stay, he couldn't find it in him to leave yet, either. The idea of meeting with the witch again, this time with the Requiem complete, made something in his chest knot. Anger started to simmer. Anger that he'd let her go, after all that had happened, all that she'd helped Lelouch do. But he'd had it shown to him rather forcibly how little he could do to change her existence – the woman had sighed, listening to him say she should die with Lelouch, and finally picked up Lelouch's gun and shot herself. Within a minute, she was standing again. She'd asked him is she should burn herself, too, and he, in horror, had shaken his head.

Immortal. That was what she called herself.

Why _would_ she do this? Lelouch never seemed to bother her, only griping at her when she ate several pizzas in one day. There had been a strange sort of relationship between them; Lelouch asked for nothing, she asked for nothing, and they helped one another out without words or reason. Lelouch indulged her pizza fetish even as he told her she would get fat, and she helped Lelouch teach Suzaku about Zero's mannerisms even as she complained that Suzaku was too stupid to get it. But maybe Lelouch _had_ asked her? But then, why write 'Shinjitsu'? It hinted at something people didn't know. Maybe she was trying to say something – that the deaths were related? Other than the fact that each victim was, in some way, dangerous to the peace they were fighting for.

"If she – if C.C. truly is leaving us a message, then we need to find out what it is," he said, knowing he was minutes too late with the comment to be tagging on to what Nunnally had been saying.

"She has to have a reason," Nunnally said, and his brows drew together. Nunnally had known C.C. longer than he. She'd admitted to having known C.C. was a 'friend' of Lelouch's for a very long time. C.C. had seemed distant, but not apathetic. Those were Nunnally's words, and Suzaku had yet to figure out exactly how that equated to a sort of trust in the woman's motives.

Still he didn't make a move to leave, and still Nunnally stayed in the room, letting him think. Sometimes it felt like the mask was crushing in on him, pulling his thoughts from his own mind. Like he was nothing, like he really had died and all that was left was the persona. He wondered, in his dark moments, if this was how Lelouch had felt. Maybe that was how he'd fallen. The old Lelouch, the Lelouch Suzaku had known when they were kids, had been hard and tough and rational, but not cruel. Not like the Lelouch that killed Euphie. And Shirley. He clenched his eyes shut. But he wouldn't be taken in by Zero's mask. He would remain Kururugi Suzaku. He wouldn't become something that would make Euphie sad.

"All right. Thank you, Nunnally." He looked at the mask for a short moment more before putting it on.

Nunnally waited until he nodded, then went and opened the windows before unlocking the door. He went to her then and clutched the handles of her wheelchair. They hardly stepped outside when they were met by a lanky guard. "Empress Nunnally!"

"What is it, Will?" she asked, and the young man blushed at the use of his name before saluting.

"It's Lord Xingke, my lady! He's..." The man made a useless motion with his hands.

Nunnally turned around to look at Suzaku – at Zero. "I must go to Tianzi immediately." Suzaku nodded and began to push her, but she shook her head. "I want you to take a look at what we were discussing before," she said.

Suzaku hesitated, then nodded. He let go of the wheelchair. The guard, Will, took his place. Suzaku looked at the man. "I hold you responsible," he said, and the man paled. His salute was slightly sloppy.

He watched them leave, knowing Will the Guard would feel his stare. Xingke was getting worse; his time was almost gone. The man held himself tall, but his pallor spoke of his condition. He was a little slower as he walked, his eyes a little glassy. Still, the man stood by Empress Tianzi's side.

The halls of the Britannian Palace were white and streamlined as Suzaku walked through them. The Britannian banners had been interspersed with the United Federation of Nations' flag until lions and snakes and doves seemed to fill his vision. By now, the pictures were almost normal.

He went to his personal 'office' and found both General Miyamoto and Schneizel awaiting him. Miyamoto sent Schneizel a nervous look, then caught Suzaku coming forward. "Sir," the man said, and saluted.

Schneizel fell into an immediate bow. Suzaku snarled, but he did it silently. More of Lelouch's work. "Have either of you found her?"

Miyamoto answered in the negative, but Schneizel stood. "I have searched, as Miyamoto, all transportation vehicles. Nothing. So, on the assumption that she will be avoiding people, I had men search for unobtrusive paths." He held out a small disk. "They have narrowed her route to four different options."

Suzaku took the information and turned to Miyamoto. "Anything to add?"

The man cleared his throat. Suzaku was about to hurt the man; he seemed terrified of the mask. "We have people out looking, and every transportation service has been ordered to report anyone who matches the description. Otherwise, _his_ information will be most helpful."

Suzaku frowned. If C.C. was suddenly avoiding being seen, then she could well be invisible again. She wouldn't likely be spotted by any of Miyamoto's men. "Can these estimated routes help us find out where she may be headed?"

Schneizel shook his head. "No. We would need another sighting."

Of course they would. "Set up roadblocks along these four areas," Suzaku said, waving the disk. His voice, altered through the mask, sounded almost angry. "Make sure nothing can pass, not even a bug. Act as if she's invisible."

Miyamoto's brow furrowed, but he saluted and bowed and said, "yes, sir," and the man was walking out with a straight back. At least the man was exceptional militaristically.

Schneizel bowed once more as soon as the door closed. "This woman troubles you?"

Suzaku frowned behind the mask. Schneizel had no real free will anymore. He always followed Zero's orders – Suzaku's orders – without question. He also rarely made his own initiative. Worse, the man never talked. No wonder Miyamoto seemed nervous around the man; he was now little more than a robot. Still, Suzaku didn't want to say anything to the man. Maybe it was the memory of the man's manipulative nature when he'd still had his own personality. Maybe it was because robots had no reason to keep secrets. Or maybe it was simply because Suzaku didn't trust anyone save Nunnally with any of his secrets. In any case, he waved Schneizel out. It took him a moment to adjust, again, to the tension that kept his muscles taut despite any danger being momentarily gone. Then he went to his sofa and sat, leaning his head against the back for only an instant. If someone came in and saw him in anything other than perfect condition, he would be seen differently. Lelouch had created Zero to be a perfect being, never tired – never wrong. One thing he'd made perfectly clear was the need to continue that lie. Zero had to be as strong as his convictions.

On that thought, Suzaku sat straight again and simply closed his eyes. One good thing about the mask: dark circles, sweat, fear, surprise – none of it could be seen. The cloak, too, helped hide knee-jerk reactions. Lelouch must have thought of such before having the outfit made – by whoever. Lelouch had simply assured him that no one would ever come forward with the knowledge. His damn Geass again, no doubt.

Miyamoto entered the room then, hardly giving him a cursory knock as warning. Suzaku stayed in his chair, but straightened. "Sir." Another salute. "The roadblocks are set up."

"Remember what I said." Suzaku glared at the man, and once more Miyamoto started flagging under Suzaku's stare. "Watch the very wind."

Miyamoto nodded and left with one last salute. Suzaku closed his eyes again and wished he could rub his temple. He couldn't be sure if C.C. even had anything to do with the attack, but the very idea of her being in the same place at the same time... it seemed far too convenient, even for him. And though he didn't think she would be caught with something so obvious as a roadblock, he couldn't think of anything else. And with the best of the best on the job, they at least had a chance.

A small chance.

He stood and looked out the windows. They were large, the glass spanning from a foot off the floor to a foot from the ceiling, each attached to one another to make a wall of glass. Just off from the garden, just out of his room's sight, a koi pond sat. Another rested in the garden in the back of the palace, per (once again) Nunnally's request. He didn't put his hand to the glass, though he wanted to. The sun was warm, but night was falling, and so the warmth was no longer stifling. Through the tint of the mask, he saw the sky turn orange. He worried for a moment if he shouldn't be checking on Empress Tianzi and Xingke. Nunnally, however, was the social interaction. He merely showed his face to promote the ideas of justice and unification. If he showed himself too much, he would seem to be taking over, just as Lelouch had.

It meant he would have nothing to do until those roadblocks turned up something. His lips thinned. Until then, he could only imagine what C.C. might be doing.

* * *

><p>"Put your faith in what you most believe in<br>Two worlds, one family  
>Trust your heart<br>Let fate decide  
>To guide these lives we see"<p>

- Disney, "Two Worlds"

* * *

><p>"Lelouch!"<p>

He glared at her, even though they were both invisible at the moment. "Really, C.C.?" he hissed, but she just rolled her eyes. The night was coming; gray was gliding across the sky. They had to wait for night to fall, then trek across more populated areas. If Lelouch had calculated correctly, C.C., who had been visible while they'd been on the train, would be a suspect in the death of Pete Granger. With that Immortal woman marking each of his kills, each terrorist death he'd tried to cover up as an accident were now linked murders. He missed his Geass, much to C.C.'s amusement. It would be easier to tell people to get out of his way, or order them to pretend he wasn't there. It made it obvious to him just how much more impossible destroying Britannia would have been without the Geass' strength.

C.C. went traveling, of course, wandering from store to closing store as the minutes ticked slowly by. Lelouch stuck to a wide alleyway and avoided any who might come near. He felt like a thief.

Finally darkness descended over Tokyo and they were able to get onto the last bus ride. Thankfully, the bus was sparsely populated, but still Lelouch had to show himself, remaining hunched under his cloak and trying his best to look homeless. People gave him a wide berth, and C.C. was able to sit invisible beside him without being touched.

The ride was slow, and when finally they reached the last bus stop of the night, they were still far from their goal. They were in the middle of Tokyo, still a good few miles from Zero's base, where guard after guard resided. And since their goal was to find the white-haired Immortal while still maintaining no contact with its prey, Zero... and of course, there was no doubt that the woman would also wish to uncover the truth about Lelouch's death, so that had to be stopped, as well... more, he may be playing right into her hands. Still...

Still. He would win.

"Lelouch, look."

They were getting off the bus when C.C. spoke, pointing ahead of them and to the left. It was where they were headed; just another kilometer or so and they would be by the old Britannian estate in which Zero resided. Lelouch hissed and pulled the woman out of the way of a couple, almost yelling at her before remembering that he was visible. Instead he looked to where she pointed. It wasn't hard to see what had grabbed her attention. A small group of people surrounded a brick wall, already home to several pieces of urban art. One seemed to be more interesting than the others; simple red English letters sat beside two giant red kanji symbols. By now, Lelouch knew what they meant. "Shinjitsu," he murmured, and read the English letters. His eyes widened. "Destroy it," he hissed, and shrank back. Police were coming now. He dropped his head and hunched in on himself, trying to look old.

"Oh? I find the artwork fascinating," C.C. said, but finally she shrugged. "Fine. You owe me."

"I know it," he said, his voice hardly carrying at all. C.C. must have heard it, though, because she laughed as she went to do as told. His eyes strayed back over to the wall. It surrounded a small park, created to give children somewhere to work off their steam outside of the small apartments. Children and teens had already made use of the blank space on the wall to serve up inspiration, and it had been on the list for demolition since before Lelouch's death. He hadn't squandered the money on such an expense – after all, tyrants didn't care about the beauty of the landscape – and apparently Suzaku had been too bogged down to be bothered. But now the new message stood out beside that damned 'truth' symbol, almost popping out among the more ornamental pieces. _I never wanted to use it on you, _it read._ Live on!_

Lelouch watched as the police started clearing the area. It wouldn't do for Suzaku to hear of this. Lelouch read it again, then again. Suzaku, if no one else, would understand what it meant. Or at least _could_ understand it. If these men sent the message to Suzaku, then the man may begin to learn things he was better off not knowing. And he may get involved in the case, which would mean walking about these streets, leaving himself open to whatever C.C.'s immortal friend may have planned.

Too bad he didn't have his Geass.

Lelouch passed through the grumbling crowd as it dispersed and clutched one policeman's sleeve. The giant pulled it free and turned to Lelouch. "Sir, clear the area."

Lelouch pointed back behind him. "A man went running past me a couple hours ago," Lelouch said, keeping his head low. "Right past me where I was sle... was. That's good information, right? Good enough for a dollar or two?"

The policeman waved his buddy over. "What did the man look like?"

Lelouch shrugged. "Dark hair, dark eyes, dark hood. Maybe I could remember..." He held out a hand and rubbed his fingers together. The policeman sighed.

His buddy, thinner and shorter by large degrees, grabbed a notepad from his front pocket and turned back to the wall. "I don't get what it says. I'm gonna write it down, 'kay? You get this guy's info, 'kay?"

"No info's coming yet," Lelouch said, and willed C.C. to hurry the hell up. "Just dark. The alleys can get dark, you know?"

Lelouch's first policeman sighed and pulled out his wallet. "Here's a five," the man said. "You won't get it unless you 'remember'."

Lelouch bobbed his head only slightly, but someone started shouting from behind them before Lelouch could say anything more. The policemen looked to the scream, but Lelouch turned to the wall. No wonder someone was freaking out; to others, it would look like a spray can was dancing in mid-air, spraying over the message. Lelouch felt his heart triphammer and turned to the cops. The screamer – of course it was a woman – was pointing to the wall, making everyone turn to watch the spectacle. Lelouch went invisible then and went to C.C.'s side. "Just get rid of that last bit!"

"Shut up, I am!" she said, and scribbled black paint over the last two words. Now the 'live on' part, at least, would be gone.

"H-Hey! Stop that!"

Lelouch turned, but the policemen weren't staring at them. Their eyes were on the spray can. C.C. ignored them and continued. Both of them drew their guns. Lelouch turned back to C.C. "Time to go."

C.C. dropped the spray can. "There will be more like this, I believe." Both stepped away from the message as the two officers went to the wall and cursed. "She must have been close enough to you to record your memories or something."

Record his memories. Lelouch's lips thinned. "She can do that?"

"I guess. I don't know." The officers were arguing with each other over who had to call it in – and what they would say. "She always seems to know people's thoughts. She puts several peoples' memories together and comes up with what she calls 'truths.'" C.C. put her hands behind her head and watched as the shorter of the two finally sighed and pulled out his phone. "Then she goes to whoever needs know the truth and shows it to them. That would most likely be the reason why the witch trials ended – D.D. told Governor Phips about the truth of the trials."

"The people who need to know," Lelouch said, testing out the words, and shook his head. "No one needs ever know about our truths."

C.C. hummed, but Lelouch couldn't be sure if it was in agreement or not. Sometimes, as they sat on the outskirts of a forest or in a deserted town, he could see a sense of boredom and sometimes restlessness in her. After all, her wish hadn't been fulfilled. She undoubtedly wanted to find someone who _would_ answer her wish, since he had failed to. It was most likely only a matter of time before she left him to search once more for her own dream. He couldn't hold her back; she'd done more than enough for him.

"For now, we need to find the rest of her messages and find out just what she's shown," Lelouch said. "She'll most likely have chosen similar locations – large public areas with minimal initial shock value. The next nearest place for that is..." Lelouch turned with a frown. It was in the opposite direction of their intended target. D.D. may want them to turn back, to move away from Zero and thus give her the opportunity needed to get close to him. She revealed truths and erased lies... in either case, Zero would be in danger. Lelouch needed to make sure D.D. didn't succeed in either mission. Still, whatever truths D.D. may want to reveal also had to be stopped, and that included her little wall missives. But if they separated, he and C.C. would be that bit more vulnerable.

He looked to where the estate stood. He couldn't see it past the skyscrapers, but he knew it was there, ostentatious and obvious. He knew he wasn't thinking straight, coming out into the open like this, following an Immortal toward what could easily be a trap. The best he could do was turn the game around, even if it meant entering the game at the last few turns. He was already in check before he could even sit before the board. And the king had to go first. It was why he was here.

Finally C.C. sighed. "I'm going, I'm going." He turned to her. She was walking away from him, away from the estate, and she was waving jauntily behind her. "You take care of the boy. Just remember – you can't die, but you can be paralyzed."

"I remember what you told me." C.C. just flicked her chin up and sauntered off. She didn't even wave good-bye. He sighed and turned away, as well. Of course, if she had waved good-bye, he would be concerned. That was just how it was.

It was dark, and the city's lights were hiding the stars. He stopped and pressed against a condominium as a group of teenagers pushed each other and giggled. The girls wore short skirts and spider-web leggings. The men, on the other hand, wore ripped jeans and rock band t-shirts. Lelouch raised an eyebrow. What in the world was going on? Was Britannia the only reason people had once worn respectable clothes, or was it simply that he'd never been out so late unless as Zero? As it was, the teens barely passed him without touching him, and one turned and looked back as they passed. Lelouch looked each way before stepping onto the street again.

Being Immortal was still new to him. He remembered C.C. talking to him as he awoke from his paralysis, his mind fuzzy and swimming with memories of the sword digging into his gut. He'd been in a field, dumped by someone and left for the birds. He remembered C.C., her face serious as she told him what immortality would mean. It meant rapid regeneration. It meant a loss of Geass and impunity to its touch. It meant finding his body unable to move after being 'killed,' and it meant, of all things, an end to his hair and nails growing. V.V. alone had his hair continue to grow, and only because he had been so young when he'd gained his Code. It had also meant – and hear C.C. had looked ready to cry – living beyond everything else, watching as everything around him fell and rotted and disappeared as if it had never been. Suzaku and Nunnally, Kallen and Millie and Rivalz. They would all become dust, and the world would continue without them, and no one would blink at the loss.

Still, even if it was inevitable, Lelouch would see to it that they lived long, peaceful lives. It was what he'd accepted the curse for. Why he'd fought. Even now, he couldn't stop. He'd launched the Geass Directorate in order to stop the Geass from existing. He'd made it so that only he, Rolo, and C.C. had the curse inside of them, and Rolo had died. Yet here he was learning of a third with the Code, one C.C. had neglected to mention because, as she said, he 'hadn't been Immortal then.' He wanted to curse her. She hadn't mentioned it even after he'd become Immortal, and he had to believe it was because she owed this D.D. some sort of loyalty.

Whatever bond C.C. had with D.D., it might become a problem later. Testing C.C.'s loyalty to him might push her away. They held a strange bond themselves, one he couldn't trust to be impenetrable. It was one unspoken, one never touched, a small thread that shimmered, almost invisible, between them. She'd kept several secrets from him. How many secrets had she kept from D.D.?

He rubbed his temple. That wasn't important. For now, she was taking care of the quotes, presumably following D.D.'s own plan for the two of them, though why the woman would want him alone was, for now, in question. Perhaps she simply wanted C.C. out of the way, perhaps out of the line of fire. He remembered Charles telling C.C. to join with him. It would have ended C.C.'s existence. Did D.D. want one of them? If so, it would most likely be him, and since he was newer to the whole Immortal thing, he would be comparatively weak. But what would she want that for? Simply to erase him? But wasn't he the truth in the picture? Suzaku – Zero – was the lie. She erased lies, not truths. Zero, not L.L.

In the end, there were too many unknowns to safely calculate how D.D. would act. For now, his objectives remained the same. Keep the truth hidden and protect Zero. The problem was that, in chess, while Suzaku would be a knight and C.C. a rook, he was the king. The master of the field, certainly, but not maneuverable. For him to survive, he needed other pieces to protect him. His lips thinned. He didn't have such a thing anymore. In other circumstances, that would be fine, but now...

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand." (1)

Lelouch turned. Behind him stood a woman decked out all in white. Lelouch felt a shiver flicker up his spine. He'd been right. She'd wanted him alone. He smirked and threw his head back. "Well, well. You don't waste time."

"Time's glory is to calm contending kings, to unmask falsehood, and bring truth to light."

He frowned. The words seemed familiar, but he couldn't say from where. The woman hardly seemed to be moving; he almost doubted that she even breathed. She stood like a statue in the middle of the road, not hiding herself as he did. Her skin was pale, so pale it shone almost silver in the lamplight. Her clothing was white, white pants, white blouse, white belt. She even had a white choker. It all made her seem wraithlike. Someone looked at her funny as they crossed the street, but she was oblivious to the stare.

He thought furiously. He couldn't die, at least not conventionally, and he'd never had reason before to ask what Charles' maneuver - the one that would kill Immortals - would have been. Something that involved touch, obviously. He needed to avoid D.D.'s touch. Would the cloak be enough, or were clothes superfluous?

"And thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; and enterprises of great pith and moment, with this regard, their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action." Recognition flickered in Lelouch's mind, but she was already moving, a garden ornament breaking free from its confines, and with a sedate movement she entered his private space. He hopped back, glaring at her, and she paused. There was no flicker of emotion; she wore neither amusement nor frustration. She didn't even speak her own words, but those borrowed from others. She was like a blank canvas, white and blank and empty, devoid of anything. Like C.C. on overload. How much time had this woman seen?

He didn't know enough about her to know what might change that frostbitten countenance to something more human. Didn't know if the possibility even existed. He narrowed his eyes. "You seek truth, isn't that right? Then how do you know my thoughts? How did you know what I'd thought back on Shikinejima?"

She didn't falter, but took another step. He looked into glassy blue eyes and felt that shiver again. He didn't know where she'd come from or what she wanted with him. "Many yet," she said, "are the truths of God which will be unfolded as they are needed."

God? Lelouch knew, vaguely, whose words she was speaking, how they were said on the shores of what was now Britannia, but she couldn't mean _God_, as if some higher being had spoken to her. Not unless she was insane. She most likely meant the God that Charles had referenced, the collective unconscious of all people. Lelouch bared his teeth. He'd locked the entrance to the Thought Elevator here in Japan, but there were doubtlessly others. Could they all lead to 'God'? Would his thoughts be recorded inside? How could they be found?

She was right in front of him, but as he stared she moved, disappearing from his sight. He jumped and turned perhaps faster than Suzaku's own. She was behind him, her hand raised. He stumbled back. Still there was nothing on her face. Again she dropped her hand. "The fact that you exist is an error."

Lelouch flinched. On instinct he reached for his gun, hidden deep within his cloak, but she got close again and he had to back away lest she reach out and touch him. He felt his heart thudding hard and heavy in his chest. Of all the quotes in the world, she had to choose that one. He could remember Suzaku's face as he spoke those words, the wide eyes and trembling hand. The fury. Lelouch had only thought to catch her, to use the paralysis that came with 'death' and truss her up before she finished regenerating. If that didn't work, then he was stuck. His first thought had been to protect Zero. He hadn't thought she would come for him. It didn't follow what she'd done so far.

"The object of the superior man is truth," she said. Lelouch pulled out his gun then and to hell with it, but she simply came forward and grabbed it. When he tried to pull the gun free, she touched his chest. "I am in no mood to be deceived any longer by the crafty devil and false character whose greatest pleasure is to take advantage of everyone."

Lelouch paused, unsure, but she just stepped back and ran into the building beside him. He cursed and made to follow, but as she slipped inside, a group of businessmen came out. He had to dodge them to avoid a collision. He cursed again. As soon as they were in their cars and gone, he opened the door and jumped inside, but of course she was gone from sight. He ran to the back, anyway, careful of the couple standing in the lobby and the man taking his trash to the back room. The walls were slate gray, the floor tiled. He had to slow down to keep from making noises as he ran. Finally he reached the far end, but once again there was nothing. She would have easily left the building, not having to worry about sneaking around. And his movements had pulled his cloak back. He tugged it over his face again and waited for the man with the trash to leave before going out the back door. He hid against the wall then and just let himself get his breath back for a moment.

It was clear she was still going after Zero. She would hunt down the lies and expose them. Having met her was, in fact, fortuitous. He now had pertinent knowledge that he could use to plan his moves more strategically. Instead of sitting before the board with all moves already done, he had now seen her first reactions to his own movements. He was starting to see the pattern. Attack and dance away, open chasms in defenses and pull back. She was the type to test, to toy with the enemy before striking where they were most vulnerable. And despite himself, he'd shown her several vulnerabilities. Each led to Suzaku – to Zero. She would know. If she truly was going after Suzaku, she would know he intended to follow. She would want him to – that would be where she turned against him again. And he couldn't allow himself to be caught unaware. Not where Suzaku might see him. He and Suzaku had come to an uneasy truce, all because Suzaku had truly believed that Lelouch would die. He would pay for his sin and be gone from the world. It was what Suzaku himself had deemed necessary. _"The fact that you exist is an error."_ How would Suzaku react if he found Lelouch to be immortal?

No. It was better if he remained dead to all. Zero Requiem demanded the end of his existence. He couldn't let it all fall apart now. That, too, was why he was back in the city.

He studied the small alley he stood in. There wasn't much room; a parking facility rose behind the building, swerving up several levels in order to maximize space. Beyond that structure stood another building, also made to house several families. Within the small space behind the building, most likely to give smokers a small niche, there was nothing but concrete and litter scattered around a large trash bin. The bin went up to Lelouch's height, clearly made by someone who thought women would never have trash to toss. In one place by the bin, the concrete was slightly cracked, and a few small weeds shoved their way through. A couple soda cans sat, feeding the weeds all the sugar they needed.

He shoved away from the wall and looked up. The sky was almost impossible to see. Even in the small back area, a light stood vigil against the darkness, giving smokers a small sort of safety. He shuffled off. He could guess, now, what D.D. had wanted with him. Just as he'd known nothing about her own moves, she had known little of his. For every thought she might have received from the Elevator – from the unconscious known as 'God' – there were breaks, gaps in which even the Elevator may not be able to fill. She would know that he was the mastermind behind it all, but knowing how he would react within certain situations – that was what she'd wanted. And he'd shown her a number of weaknesses. Not only Suzaku, but his identity itself. The cloak while remaining invisible meant he was afraid of someone seeing him.

But she had revealed a few, herself. He looked around as he turned away from the back alley and back onto the main street. She would be heading to Suzaku, possibly to test him, as well, but perhaps also to attack. She would use the words of the past to force Suzaku to think of her meaning himself, to read guilt in his own heart. And Suzaku had plenty of guilt, and plenty of heart. She heeded those words of the past, though, and that was a weakness. She didn't think for herself. And truth was so integral to her it consumed everything. Wearing white, speaking in the 'truth' of the past, pushing and pulling. He was beginning to see how she moved.

He grinned. Finally, he could start his counterattack.

* * *

><p>AN: ...Yeah. I know it's necessary for her character, but she's already tickin' me off. Thank you to several sites and books for these quotes, including the original authors and literature. Special thanks to BrainyQuote, which helped me out the most.

Not as long as I'd prefer, but Lelouch defies. -_-

(1) _In order:_  
>Alexander Graham Bell<br>William Shakespeare  
>William Shakespeare<br>Henry Ward Beecher  
>Kururugi Suzaku<br>Confucius  
>Camille Claudel<p> 


	3. Blind Sight

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Extra Note: Yes, people, the story started slightly _en medias res_. Yes, it'll all become clear eventually.

Extra EXTRA Note: /sighs/ I go on the belief that the same people would at least EXIST in their universe, even if they do not become who they are in our universe. So while Bush would never be a president in Geass-land, he would still be alive. That's the important part. X-P She simply doesn't speak 'her own words.'

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Two

Blind Sight

* * *

><p>"He can only fool himself for so long<br>He can only fool himself for so long  
>(I'm too weak to face me)<br>He can only fool himself"

~Linkin Park, "Creep"

* * *

><p>Miyamoto glared at Schneizel, standing like a robot just inside the door to Zero's room. Suzaku stood by the desk, watching as Miyamoto practically bristled. "The officers swear to their stories, sir, and they're oddly consistent."<p>

Suzaku nodded. He could understand why Miyamoto was suspicious of his men's reports, but for Suzaku it only cemented his own belief. But why would C.C. cover up the words? Who, then, had put them there? "The message. What was it?"

Miyamoto made a disgusted sound. "That's the best part, sir. They didn't get it. They were going to write it down, but a homeless man distracted them and when they turned back, the message had already been covered up by the spray can ghost." He waved a hand as if shooing away a particularly pesky fly. "They said the message had something to do with living on or something, but they forget the rest."

Suzaku just barely managed to control the flinch in time. Thank goodness the message had been covered. If it stated anything linking him to Suzaku, or him to Geass, everything he and Lelouch had sacrificed for would go up in smoke. He took a deep breath. "And have your men canvassed the area for any other messages?"

"They're looking now."

Suzaku frowned. Chances were that none of them would be found. That cursed green-haired woman would most likely have started her search. But what in the world was going on? "Make sure they canvas the city. It may be late, but these messages may be important. Bring whatever they find straight to me. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Miyamoto saluted and hurried out of the room.

He turned to Schneizel. "I need you to watch over this. No matter what, anything that may incriminate me must be destroyed."

Schneizel bowed. "Yes, Zero." And he, too, stood and walked out. The room was eerily quiet without their presences, and Suzaku felt the thrum of tension between his shoulder blades. Why would C.C. write a message, only to cover it up? She would have no reason to, which meant she was only doing one or the other. He wanted to believe that she was the one covering the message, that the one who wrote it was normal and human and couldn't become invisible, but he'd spent time with Lelouch that last month, and he'd had time over the past year to study the strategies that had given Lelouch victory, and he couldn't just brush aside the idea that something much larger than he could anticipate was happening. If it was a war between two Immortals, then all hell would break loose. But what other Immortal was there? Lelouch had said that he'd killed all others with the Geass, and after Emperor Charles' death, only C.C. had remained as an Immortal. Unless that wasn't true. Maybe Lelouch had lied again when he'd said he'd erased Geass. Hadn't he called Geass a wish?

Suzaku's hands clenched to fists. But no, that wasn't right. Lelouch was many things, many abhorrent things, but he had known, in the end, what Geass was. Hadn't he? It was so easy to doubt Lelouch now. The man had sacrificed everything for victory. He'd killed Euphie without a second thought. Perhaps it had been for peace, but then if Lelouch had thought the continuance of Geass necessary for peace, then...

Suzaku held no illusions that Lelouch wouldn't lie to him about keeping Geass on the planet. With so many other lies, what was one more?

Then perhaps C.C. had been in charge of the users of Geass, and one was running amok. That would make sense. Had she told the other Geass users about him, or was it this one's ability? He knew they differed; he'd been shown that when Emperor Charles had used his Geass on Lelouch.

Almost he called for Schneizel to return, but it was more important that whatever information was out there wouldn't cripple his efforts. Whatever danger he was in, it wouldn't kill him. Nothing would but old age or, maybe, some disease he couldn't stop. On bad days, that thought was enough for him to wish radiation poisoning.

Outside, only the lawn lamps illuminated the night, shining off of the flowers and trees and creating an almost romantic setting. Suzaku had no doubt that it was all done for Nunnally's benefit. He thought he saw a cricket hop from a flower, but couldn't be sure. A part of him wanted to get away from the windows. He considered it for a moment before flipping the cosmos a metaphorical bird and turning away. He had to attack, not defend. If C.C. was doing something with Geass, then he needed to put a stop to it.

With that in mind, he left his room and started down the still-bright corridors to the far wing, where Nunnally undoubtedly still waited by Empress Tianzi's side. The halls were even more silent than usual, and every step he took echoed. The banners flapped slightly as he passed. He heard an almost-squeaking sound and paused, moving slightly to the side. Around a turn came Nunnally, her eyes on the floor as she maneuvered her wheels around the sharp angle. He shifted slightly to tell her of his presence, and she looked up at him with a smile. "Zero! How good to see you!"

He nodded slightly and took his usual place behind her, gently pushing her down the hall. It was unnecessary, but it gave them closeness, and him an excuse to stand near her, murmuring secrets into her ear. At many diplomatic functions, the act had become essential. She closed her eyes and leaned back. "How is Li Xingke?" he asked.

"He's doing well," she said, but she bit her lip. "For now. It's getting worse, and Tianzi's having a hard time watching."

He knew the feeling. He'd watched someone he loved die, too. "Are they resting now?"

She sat up a bit straighter. That question was not normal. "Yes."

"Then, if you're not too tired yourself, I have something I would like to discuss with you."

Nunnally kept her eyes closed, but it was most likely only to keep up appearances. He was passing his office and moving beyond, past several stationed guards. He watched them out of the corner of his eye, not turning his head. It would look as if he wasn't giving them even a passing notice. Nunnally, in turn, kept her small smile and nodded once. "All right. I'm not very tired, and if there's something I should hear, I would prefer now to later."

It said something about the trust placed in them that none of the guards questioned them. The halls widened slightly as he took her to the garden. The smell came even before they turned into the right hall, filled with rich aromas and a sort of heat that greenhouses seemed to emanate. The garden was indoors and its upkeep maintained year-round. It had more often than not become both their haven and their meeting place, and the guards stationed at the doors held them open, then closed them before moving to the other side of the hall. Both Suzaku and Nunnally waited for the ritual to be over before speaking. "What is it, Zero?"

He clenched his fingers around the handles of her wheelchair. "It's C.C. There's... more."

"What? Did you find her?" Nunnally sounded slightly skeptical, and Suzaku could understand why. He let go of the handles and walked around her wheelchair. The garden still held some Eastern horticulture, but it was confined to the West area, while the rest was all Japanese in origin. Rows of Japanese maples lines the cobblestone walkways, Burgundy Lace and Bloodgood and Dwarf Reds. Garnet maples, almost short enough to be bush-like, sat beside a black metal bench. The bench had been used only a short number of times, and usually by visiting officials. By the bench and around a slight bend sat the koi pond, maintained to crystal clear perfection. Suzaku could see a few fish swimming idly to and fro, their orange and white scales seeming to shimmer. He touched one of the maples and sighed.

"We didn't. If she doesn't want to be found, I doubt she will be. No, the problem is that there is most likely someone else involved."

He watched as her brow puckered. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Someone else? Helping her?"

He shook his head. "No. There was a graffiti'd message on a wall. It, too, had the 'Shinjitsu' kanji marked beside it, just like the bodies, but apparently a spray can stood and sprayed over it all on its own before officers could say what it said. It seems no one's being forthcoming with what the message may have said, either. I can't really blame them; it's abnormal to see an object move and act seemingly on its own."

He waited as she sifted through the information, feeling the bark's coarseness beneath the fabric of his gloves. Nunnally wheeled her way to the koi pond and watched those bright tails flicker in the water. "Then we don't know what the message is."

Suzaku's lips thinned. He didn't know how much Nunnally knew about the Geass or what transpired between him and Lelouch. Did she know about the Geass Lelouch used on him? While she'd confided in having been a victim, he had stayed his tongue. It had been surprising enough to learn that Lelouch had needed to do so; Suzaku had thought it to be a line Lelouch wouldn't cross. Then again, there were many lines he'd thought Lelouch wouldn't cross. In any case, he hadn't told Nunnally about his 'Live on' Geass, and he wasn't sure he wanted her to know. It was his burden, his curse, given to him by his friend. A punishment for his sin, a penance for his choices, a demand for the future. Nunnally's had been simple, one she could easily move on from. It would no longer touch her. Maybe that was why it was easier for her to forgive her brother.

He shook his head. "It may have something to do with... the curse." That was their code for his taking up Zero's mask.

Of course Nunnally knew he was hiding something, but other than a short, sad look to him, all she did was nod. "But the information was hidden quickly enough that no one understood?"

"So it seems. In any case, it wouldn't be something universally understood." Playing the tiptoe dance with Nunnally didn't feel quite right. It was in him to apologize.

"All right." She leaned down and skimmed her fingers over the water. One fish came up to investigate, nibbling her finger for a moment before giving it up as a food source and leaving. Nunnally giggled before pulling her hand back up. "C.C. would most likely be covering the evidence, then, wouldn't she?"

That's what he wanted to think, but then they were back at square one when it came to the Shinjitsu killer. "Still, whoever's leaving those... notes... has something to do with Geass."

Nunnally frowned. "I can't imagine my brother would willingly leave such a loose end as Geass." Suzaku's lips thinned at that, but he said nothing. "He wouldn't let his efforts be wasted."

That made sense. "He may have a plan for Geass beyond his death."

Nunnally didn't look pleased with that, but she nodded, biting her lip as she did. They were silent then, each stumbling through their own thoughts. He leaned against the tallest of the maples, the burgundy, with leaves a dark almost-purple, and watched as Nunnally leaned down and once more teased the fish. She didn't smile this time, though, and he knew it was because of what he'd said. Even more than throwing aspersions on her brother was the fact that _he_ was the one to do so, the one closest to Lelouch. The one who, other than her, should know him best. One of them had to be wrong. Hell, maybe they both were. Lelouch, in that last month, had been more like the Lelouch he'd known. There had been more pain in his eyes, more grief.

Suzaku shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that. If he started thinking of Lelouch as a martyr...no. He'd fallen into that once before, as he'd watched his friend's eyes dim... he took a deep breath. Lelouch had received his own curse, his own penance. For everyone's happiness, he'd substituted his own. Suzaku closed his eyes. In order to bring the wish of peace to life, he'd given all of his own wishes. It wasn't enough to make amends for everything – it wouldn't bring Euphie or Shirley back – but it was everything Lelouch could give.

"Is there any way to stop someone like C.C.?" Nunnally said finally, and Suzaku saw her looking at him once more. "What can we do to stop this?"

Suzaku moved to wave away her words and felt the cape against his hand. He shook his head instead, remembering Lelouch's order: never move the cape unless you intend to make a statement. "Leave that to me. I just want you to be aware. If I'm not with you, make sure at least two guards or Schneizel remain by your side. I'll order him to protect you as soon as he returns."

"What about you?"

His smile was self-deprecating, and he was glad she couldn't see it. "I'll be fine." He thought her eyes narrowed, but she just nodded and let it go. They stayed for a while longer, listening to the silence and relaxing in the short moment before the real world would intrude again. The night carried with it a sense of solitude, as if the very earth was sleeping. He knew it wasn't true; somewhere out there, C.C. lurked. C.C. and someone else, someone potentially as powerful. He frowned. "For now," he said, breaking the silence, "you should probably rest. I'll make sure guards are stationed outside your room. If anything happens – even if you just wake up in the middle of the night – inform the guards. It's better to be too careful than not enough."

She nodded. He left his spot against the maple to go to her, encircling his fingers around the bars again. She leaned back until her hair lay heavy against his gloved hands. He felt its weight, but not its texture. She wasn't doing it deliberately, not to upset him and not to flirt. He could see her relaxing as he led her to the garden doors. The guards came forward and got the door for them. He pushed Nunnally through. "Set up guards around Miss vi Britannia's quarters. No less than three." The men accepted his orders, and one left to do as told. The other closed the garden doors behind them, and in silence he wheeled Nunnally to her private rooms. The sound of her wheels on the floor marked their movement. Otherwise, they were silent. Despite having said she wasn't tired, Nunnally's breathing was beginning to even out. He smiled down at her. She'd overdone it again. He needed to pay closer attention. She would work herself to death if given the opportunity.

Soon enough, they were outside her rooms. Two guards were coming from the side, and both saluted when he saw them. "Hobson is coming," one said, and Suzaku lifted his chin in acknowledgment. He moved around Nunnally's chair, one hand trailing along the handles, and opened the door. As he moved back, he lightly shook her shoulder. She blinked her eyes open and look around. She smiled at the guards as he wheeled her into her room.

"Sorry about that," he murmured after he'd closed the door behind him, and she nodded. She yawned as he moved around the wheelchair and knelt before her. The position was familiar, a decade old. His gloved hands rested on her knees automatically. "At least three guards will be outside your room at any time. I'll send Schneizel to you later, as well."

She smiled. "What about you? When will you sleep?"

"I'll rest after Schenizel comes back. Is that all right?" She seemed to consider it, and finally she nodded, yawning again. He couldn't help another soft smile as she waved him off, still covering her mouth with her other hand. He left her rooms and the familiar strawberry and vanilla colors within. The two guards saluted, and a rushed-walk sound alerted Suzaku to the third member of Nunnally's guard. He waited for the man to arrive before leaving them to their work, staring at them a moment longer than necessary before walking away. It was enough to get them to straighten their spines. Lelouch hadn't left much for Suzaku to need to do in the bluffing department; the strongest men became cowards before Zero's mask. It was... strange. Terrifying. Rewarding. Burdening. It made him doubly aware of every movement he made.

His rooms were only a hallway past Nunnally's, closer to the entrance and made to defend her if the occasion arose. He went into his room and closed the door. He didn't relax until he'd turned on the defense switches. A steel door slid down behind the wooden door. Metal blinds hid the stars, and he walked through the white-walled seating area before collapsing on top of the red sofa. The layout was plain and austere, made to be seen. His bedroom was the same. He could afford no knick-knacks, no decorations. Zero had no personality. Zero wasn't human.

He hung his head and sighed. He heard the metal shades fall in the bedroom, too, and heard a small beep that said the alarm had been switched on. He was tired, almost sluggish with the weight of what was happening within the city. His past was returning like a wraith to haunt him. He could feel its cold fingers along his skin, traveling up and down his back and digging its nails into his shoulder blades. It was as he was reaching up to remove his mask that the alarm went off.

He stood and hopped away from where he'd been sitting. The alarm was hooked up to his room, made to alert him to any movement of a separate heat source from his own. If it was going off, then he wasn't alone.

A soft thump alerted his attention to the far corner, and he froze. A yowl broke the silence of the room, counterpointing the soft rustle of his outfit. He jerked back as a gray cat started walking toward him. One eye was shrouded by darker fur, making it looked like it got punched in the face. He stared at it. How...? "Arthur?" The cat meowed again and sat, simply contemplating him. He took a step forward.

"Animals want to be with their owners." (1)

Suzaku jerked back, crouching into a ready position, pushing away the cape as he did. He couldn't see anyone, but that voice had not been C.C.'s. It had been female, but that was as far as the similarities went. This voice was even less passionate, a higher timbre and strangely rhythmic. He narrowed his eyes. Unless technology could now turn people invisible, it was an Immortal. Was she here to deliver a message? "What do you want?"

He heard nothing, but suddenly there was a push against his chest, and only quick reflexes kept him from falling back onto the couch. He spun away and landed once more in a crouch. He strained his senses for something, then let them fall. No matter what, he would survive the encounter. He just had to rely on the Geass placed on him and his soldier's instinct.

"We must respect the past, and mistrust the present, if we wish to provide for the safety of the future."

His brows furrowed. "What?"

He felt a prickle along the edge of his shoulder blades and rolled to his left, landing just in front of the protected windows. He eyes darted to the side, toward the protective barriers. He needed to flip the switch and get them open. But if he did, what would the other soldiers be walking into? The danger was bad enough for him alone, but the soldiers had nothing to protect them – no Geass to tell them when to dodge. And what could this Immortal say? This might be the one who left the message of his Geass on a public wall. He couldn't let them in and have his secret revealed. If people learned he was Kururugi Suzaku, Lelouch's Knight of Zero...

He saw a flash of light off of nothing and twirled away. He had weapons hidden around the room. He would have to reach one of those – his Geass activated, pulling him into a roll just as a bang sounded. Something slammed into the metal behind him and pinged off. A bullet. He cursed as he landed. Someone would have heard that.

"What are you doing this for?" he asked, hopping back up to his feet and kicking where he'd seen the flash of light. Of course there was nothing, and he turned around again. Someone pounded on his door. He heard muffled shouting. "Find Schneizel!" he ordered, his voice echoing through the voice distorter in his mask, and for a moment his voice sounded like Lelouch's. He shivered and focused back on his attacker. "Well? Why are you trying to kill me?"

He still saw nothing, but he moved three inches to the right as another report sounded. This time the bullet sank deep into plaster. "Enflamed with the study of learning and the admiration of virtue," the voice said, and he followed it as it came closer to him, "stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave men and worthy patriots, dear to God, and famous to all ages."

He blinked. He hadn't understood a word.

"So killing Zero will bring that fame to you?" More banging could be heard outside his room, and beyond that, a small, high-pitched voice, slow with sleep. Nunnally. He cursed.

Whoever his attacker was, they didn't answer his question. Though he'd begun to think that even if she did, he wouldn't understand what she said. Nunnally's voice got louder, more insistent, and Suzaku knew it was only a matter of time before they found a way to get inside. He needed to hurry. But how could he fight an invisible opponent? And if he touched her, would those horrific visions enter his mind like they had with C.C.?

A loud shriek-like cry sounded, then the noise of a laser object melting through metal. The danger his Geass had been about to force him to dodge disappeared. "No matter how sharp a grievance or how deep a hurt, there is no justification for killing innocents." He didn't know what that meant, but there was no way for his enemy to escape so long as everything remained sealed. He had to decide if letting this Immortal loose was worth the dangers of an unknown opponent.

"Stop!" he shouted, but the order was too late. He heard the shriek sound rise to a crescendo before a sharp thunk reverberated through the room. "Who are you?" he asked, even as soldiers shoved against the small slab of metal and ran inside. "Why are you after me?"

He heard nothing, and the men were searching everywhere. Just outside the room sat Nunnally, her blue eyes open and fierce. A gun sat in his lap, cradled in the folds of her pastel pink nightgown.

"Truth." He jerked at the sound, and the soldiers who had started staring at him swung their guns around, searching for the enemy. He held up his hand to still them. "Truth," she said again, "that fair goddess who comes always with healing in her wings."

What did that mean? Was she... threatening him? Did she intend to rip the mask off of Zero?

"Seal the exits," he said, ordering the men standing like fools in his room. "And fix that door. Do not fear; I will lead you to victory."

Suzaku had never had need to use that phrase before. He remembered Lelouch smiling at him as he'd been told that trick. 'Remember that people will always believe those who speak what they want to hear. And everyone wants to know they're on the winning side.' Lelouch had looked almost sad when he'd said the words, his body laced with the green glow of the lights in the basement Lelouch had Geassed someone into making. 'Take the burden and people will follow you into death.'

Now the words had slipped out, a cause more of year-old habit than because he would think to use them. He wanted to curse Lelouch for making him practice the line over and over, but he could see the soldiers' spines straighten; he actually watched their resolve harden as if quenched in a fire to unbendable steel. The men started out, each calling out which duty they would take, waiting a split second to hear if Suzaku had any other desires for them. There was no hesitation. No doubt. Nunnally watched him from outside the room with a steady gaze. Her hands rested against her gun. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.

Suzaku felt something tight twist inside his throat. Nunnally was ready to kill on his order. His hands shook with the knowledge. The men here expected him to bring victory. They expected him to create miracles, just as Lelouch had. And for once Suzaku saw that the Geass wasn't the only weapon Lelouch had used. How had Lelouch felt, knowing that one false strategy could kill everyone?

"S...Zero?"

He focused on Nunnally again. Her brows were furrowed. "Sorry," he said, his voice too robotic through the distorter to convey the chagrin he felt. "It wasn't C.C. It was... another."

Nunnally nodded. "I'll help the soldiers by the garden to lock up. If I see Schneizel, I send him to you."

Suzaku grimaced, but nodded. Nunnally sometimes had a hard time being around Schneizel, seeing as he was nothing but a lifeless droid, programmed to Zero's – and thus Suzaku's – every whim. But Nunnally had once said, in a sad voice, that brother had chosen their punishments, and she, too, had her role to carry out as the world's advocate.

"Be careful, Nunnally. I think they're after me, but–"

"I know." She gave him a little smile. She'd never seen death right before her eyes. Not until she'd watched her brother... Suzaku's teeth clenched together with a tight clack. He couldn't think about that. "I'll be all right."

Suzaku nodded and watched as she wheeled off. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He couldn't feel the danger anymore, but she had to still be nearby. Maybe he could use his Geass to pinpoint where she was. It took a few minutes, but he felt _something_. It didn't feel quite like what he was looking for, but he'd never searched for someone with his Geass before. Hell. He would follow the link, but first he had to take care of Nunnally. This was the worst time for this. C.C. was still out there somewhere.

* * *

><p>"There are few who deny<br>At what I do, I am the best"

~Nightmare Before Christmas, "Jack's Lament"

* * *

><p>Lelouch's heart still hammered double-time in his chest. For just an instant, he'd felt his plans crumble to dust as he stood outside Zero's private rooms and saw Nunnally order the soldiers to force their way inside. His throat had seized. His blood had gone cold.<p>

How long had it been? How long since he'd seen his little sister? She'd grown her hair even longer, and was now practically sitting on it. She sat straight still, her spine strong. And her eyes. He'd been standing to her side as she ordered men twice her age, and he'd seen those eyes wide open. He wanted, so badly, to go to her, to touch her shoulder and have her turn to him. He could almost see it; how those eyes would blink, how the cerulean skies inside would glitter. She would grin from ear to ear and shriek, clapping her hands...

But no. Most likely she would start crying, and those glittering pools would squinch in pain. His heart thumped hard. His existence upon this earth had ended one year ago. For her, for Suzaku, for everyone. That was why he'd left when they'd wheeled the Nd-YAG laser down the hallway. He had to get into position, or else his quickly-erected plan would crumble. He moved down the halls, feeling lost and out-of-place. This estate had been erected for Clovis when he'd come to live in Japan. It had never before held the banners of the UFN. He'd stayed here himself when he'd been emperor, coming over to the country he had to conquer. He wasn't surprised to see that Nunnally and Suzaku had chosen to stay here while they solved the Shinjitsu murders, but he still felt that the place couldn't be less suited to their goals.

Still, each turn felt both familiar and alien, and he had trouble reconciling the halls with the ones he'd traveled just a year ago. The opulence was stark after traveling the outskirts of the country, living on the land and what they could find. C.C. had complained about it enough times for him to memorize what she would say, but she still never left his side. He had to consider the idea that she'd done so for this moment – for D.D. But for now...

There. He stopped in front of the garden and looked around. The guards he'd seen before had run to Zero's defense, and he took the chance to slip inside, re-locking the door behind him. The garden was dark, just dark enough that the grass and flowers blended into the path, until he wasn't sure that he was stepping on the plants until he did so. The garden had been changed. He'd expected as much, though it would make his life harder. His brow furrowed. He thought he heard water. If he did, that would make things even easier.

He took a few moments to reorient himself with the place; there were more trees, each thin enough to prove they were new. He was getting closer to the water. It was a slow trickle that he heard; all he could think of was that little pond at the shrine, with a reed that would fill with water and dump it when it got too heavy, clapping right back up afterward. He didn't hear that repetitive sound, and for that he was happy. It had always grated on his nerves.

When he was fairly sure of his surroundings, he slid to the far corner and crouched, making sure he was still invisible. He heard noises from outside, but for now, he would be fine. Things were just going to get difficult. He had known he would feel pain at the sight of his sister and old friend. He'd thought he'd prepared himself, but his chest ached with want. He'd given it all up to succeed with his plan. At first to die, and then to live forever, beyond the life of all those he loved. He'd accepted that. He'd achieved that.

He closed his eyes and listened as soldiers raced past, one checking to see if the garden door was locked and then racing off again. He snorted softly. Of course. These fools wouldn't know how to do their jobs if they had a microchip implanted in their skulls. Things were quiet for a moment then, and his eyes had adjusted enough to see small shapes through the light coming in past the door. The flowers stretched shadows across the floors, overshadowed by thin trees Lelouch thought might be native to Japan. He smirked. Of course Suzaku would want that.

The water _was_ a small pond, though that reed was thankfully absent. He thought he saw movement within. His mind showed him flashes of orange and white and black. Koi. There were koi in the pond. He almost laughed. Was this really at Suzaku's behest? Perhaps the Japanese working here had wanted it. Or perhaps Nunnally. Yes, that one made the most sense. Nunnally would try to recreate Japan's world within this extravagant estate, even if the architecture was boldly European. And no one would have the heart to tell her it was useless. Perhaps they would appreciate the thought, if nothing else.

He stilled as the sound he'd been waiting for approached. A soft whirring, almost indistinguishable as the alarms were turned on. He stood. Nunnally unlocked the door and wheeled herself inside, pausing just within. His heart seemed to thunder. She was haloed from behind by the light in the hall, and through the trees he could see that mass of curls shine in the light. Her eyes were open, but she closed them and took a deep breath. Through memory she went down the path, pausing at the end before the path branched right and left. There were no traditional exits past here, no external doors to lead out. She tilted her head, and he knew she was listening for sounds. He felt like he should hold his breath. She would probably also be feeling for wind. The walls inside were all bulletproof glass, and if one was broken, the night air would creep inside. She finally put her head down, apparently satisfied.

"C.C.?"

He almost jerked back. She could sense him? But of course she could. He bit his lip. He couldn't go to her. He'd turned away from her over a year ago, on the Damocles. He clenched his fingers into fists. His existence had ended.

"No, you don't feel like her." Her head tilted to the side. Her eyes remained closed, but her brows furrowed and her lips parted. Her voice hushed. "You feel more like–"

"Nunnally?"

Lelouch clutched his chest at the sound of that voice. His eyes whipped to the door. He hadn't even heard the man approach, he'd been so engrossed in what Nunnally was saying. He was thankful that the distorter muffled the voice the way it had been made to, that there was no piece of Suzaku beyond the mask of Zero. He could almost trick himself into thinking he hadn't yet seen Suzaku. That standing before him was only Nunnally and Zero, his precious sister and his own mask come to life before him. Not his old friend. Not the man who'd wanted him dead so powerfully that the friendship they'd shared couldn't penetrate his hate.

"There's someone in here," Nunnally said, and Zero stopped still. That costume seemed to stretch around the skin of its wearer, and Lelouch knew Suzaku was preparing to fight.

He just couldn't, in the end, think of Zero as an entity. Inside was Suzaku, and he had to realize that in order to make his plan work. If he was right, she would come here. She liked playing cat and mouse with her enemy. She would come and speak to Zero – to Suzaku. And though he wasn't Lelouch's knight anymore, Suzaku would do exactly what Lelouch needed him to.

Suzaku had left the door open as he'd entered, keeping an exit available for Nunnally. Lelouch felt something in his chest calm at the sight. Suzaku was taking care of Nunnally. That was something he'd hoped for, that Suzaku's kindness would be enough to protect Nunnally, whom they both cared for.

He saw her then. Her white hair was straight as an arrow as she entered, flashing in the light, though he was the only one to see. She watched Suzaku as he turned to Nunnally, his stance vaguely protective even to Lelouch's untrained gaze. Lelouch waited, his tendons snapping. For this to work, he had to stay in the shadows.

"Zero, behind you," Nunnally said, but Suzaku was already turning. D.D. had reached out a hand to touch him. As Suzaku crouched and pulled out his gun, Lelouch felt a deep sting of relief that he'd used his Geass on Suzaku, after all.

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

Her eyes were on Nunnally now, but while Lelouch and Suzaku tensed up, Nunnally only cocked her head, keeping her eyes closed. "And what do you envision? Why is it that you've come?"

D.D. moved around Zero as Nunnally spoke, her eyes moving up and down the girl's body. If Nunnally felt D.D.'s eyes on her, she didn't react.

Lelouch slid his hand along the bark of a tree, readjusting according to the new layout. He should be able to do it, so long as Suzaku and Nunnally hadn't changed too much. As long as they didn't do anything completely out of character...

"In all secrets there is a kind of guilt, however beautiful or joyful they may be, or for what good end they may be set to serve. Secrecy means evasion, and evasion means a problem to the moral mind." D.D. flicked her white hair back and stepped away again. Suzaku – Zero – turned to where she'd been. Lelouch bent his knees slightly. It was almost time. All he needed now was for her to light the fire herself.

Nunnally's brow furrowed. "You intend to uncover the truth of Zero?"

"I know where I'm going, and I know the truth." Suzaku lifted his gun, but she'd moved once again. "Allow me to introduce you. This is my knight, Ku–"

Suzaku snapped his hand up and shot her. His shot went straight through her chest, dropping her like a stone to the cobblestones below. Nunnally opened her eyes and blinked up at Zero. Suzaku was gasping for breath; the costume, tight around every part of the anatomy, showed the gasps he took even more than the trembling in his limbs or the frozen aspect of his muscles. Lelouch hurried forward then, hiding within the trees until he was beside D.D. There was only a short amount of time before she would recover.

"S... Zero?" Nunnally twisted in her seat, staring up at him.

"I... I think I hit her."

Nunnally's brows were low over her eyes. She looked around. "I don't see her." She turned to where D.D. had stood. Lelouch pulled his own gun out as he neared D.D.'s prone form, ready to shoot her again if he had to. Finally Nunnally nodded. "We need to get more soldiers in here. She's Immortal, so she'll be able to escape if we don't do something."

"We need to get you out of here, Nunnally. Now."

She opened her mouth to protest, and for a moment Lelouch feared he'd pegged her wrong. She'd changed in those last few months. She'd gotten more of a backbone. She'd gone up against him. She'd risked his life. For a short, timeless moment he felt his heart stop.

Then she sighed. "You're right. I'll leave."

D.D. shifted, and Lelouch's heart flipped. Nunnally turned and wheeled out, the soft whirr going down the hall. Lelouch watched until he couldn't see her anymore. Suzaku looked down to the floor, roughly where D.D. lay. He lifted his gun again. "You're Immortal, right? You can't die from a bullet wound. I know. C.C. told me."

D.D. moved again, and the shuffling sound alerted Suzaku. He aimed for the movement and fired. A bright spot of blood bloomed from D.D.'s neck. Lelouch found her blood creeping along the flowers to his feet and wanted to curse. Hopefully Suzaku wouldn't notice. He couldn't move now. It would mean getting shot himself, and he needed to be able to move. "You're going to answer my questions. All of them. And in a way that can be understood. That whole 'virtue-famous' thing meant nothing to me."

Lelouch tilted his head. Would that be a quote she'd used? It probably made sense to her, which meant it was something Lelouch should know, as well. Poor Suzaku probably couldn't follow it at all. Almost Lelouch chuckled. It seemed Suzaku really hadn't changed much at all. Of course, he thought, and his humor died stillborn, that would mean that Suzaku's opinion toward him hadn't changed, either.

"Now show yourself. Or I'll just keep shooting."

Lelouch stopped then. _That_... had not been part of his plan. He looked around quickly, then scowled. The king had to move first.

He stayed low as he raced to the door, shooting at the lock until the door swung open. Suzaku shot at him, over his head the first two times, then just missing his leg. His fourth shot sent fire through Lelouch's right ankle, and he fumbled in front of the door. He swallowed the scream that rose in his throat and pushed the door open. He moved as silently as possible away from it, ignoring the blood that splattered to the floor. Suzaku stomped over to the door and looked out. Lelouch clutched his ankle and flicked the blood out the door. Suzaku fired out there again, then cursed under his breath. He looked around. Lelouch clutched his ankle tighter, hoping his blood wasn't dripping.

"Nunnally," he said, and finally turned away. Lelouch watched, adrenaline screaming in his veins, until he was gone. Then he went back to D.D., injured ankle be damned. Before she could recover, he grabbed her and dragged her inch by inch to the pond, dumping her head into the water and gasping for breath. Suzaku would be back soon. He had to hurry. But _hell_ if the term 'dead weight' wasn't over-exaggerated. He cursed, not for the first time, his lack of physical prowess.

"Lelouch."

He flinched and turned, scowling back at C.C. as she walked up from the bulletproof walls on the left. "You should hurry. Suzaku is coming back."

He cursed. "You have a few questions to answer, but later. Help me now."

She snorted and came to his side. "Even when you ask for help, you're bossy. At least you listened when I told you about immortality. Good idea, sticking her in the pond."

"Talk later," he growled, lifting the woman up. "If she so much as moves, shoot her."

C.C. just sighed.

"Secure the exits!" Lelouch looked back as Suzaku shouted through the voice distorter, sounding every inch the symbol of justice, "ensure Lady Nunnally's safety!"

Lelouch turned back to the bulletproof windows. He'd made a few modifications to Clovis' rather elitist building. The fool had thought that his name would stop any and all assaults. Lelouch hadn't been so cocksure. The garden had been upgraded, and he'd kept such information from anyone – including the construction workers involved. He'd Geassed every last one. Now the only ones who knew about it were himself and C.C. She'd already come through to enter, just as he'd come through the entrance on the other side of the building. "Let's go," he whispered, and with a grunt they dragged D.D. away from Suzaku and Nunnally. Lelouch had to ignore the desire to see them one more time. He was dead. For the world's sake, everyone had to believe that.

* * *

><p>AN: /dies/

_(1) In order:_  
>Kim Kappler<br>Joseph Joubert  
>John Milton<br>Bill Clinton  
>Anne Shannon Monroe<br>Helen Keller  
>Gilbert Parker<br>Muhammad Ali  
>Lelouch vi Britannia<p> 


	4. Fragments

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Three

Fragments

* * *

><p>"Somewhere between now and the future<br>Is where my life begins  
>I'll keep on moving like there's a fragment of hope"<p>

~ Goot, "Day to Day"

* * *

><p>He could hear it all. The shouts for Zero, the screams of his sister. He felt his body want to flinch, to turn to her in instant comfort, but he couldn't move. Footsteps pounded, and suddenly people were everywhere, pulling Nunnally from his side despite her shrieks for them to let go. He felt hands on his body, and though he thought he might be able to move, he didn't try. Suzaku – Zero – stated orders, his voice metallic, almost cold, to Lelouch's ears. Was that... how he'd always sounded?<p>

"Don't. We will not be beasts. Take him away and bury him."

It was a kindness he didn't deserve, and one that would cause him more harm than good. Still, he was surprised at the thoughtfulness. He and Suzaku had talked it out, sort've, as they stood beside the Sword of Akasha and looked over the reason why their lives had been formed the way they'd been. Suzaku had asked if Lelouch would continue his lie and free Japan. Lelouch had said there was nothing left to do but finish what he'd started. Lelouch thought about that time as his body was dumped in the back of a truck and whoever had taken his body turned on the engine. His body bounced slightly as the truck started down the road. He remembered the disgust in Suzaku's eyes as Lelouch stood before him. He hadn't been able to ask Suzaku to join him – if he ran straight into a third betrayal, there would be no hope for him at all – and saw Suzaku lower his sword.

It had been a moment for the record books. Suzaku had dropped his sword to his side and asked, in a voice that said Lelouch's answer might be his last, "what do you plan to do?"

He tried his damnedest not to wince as the driver hit a pothole, then another and another. If it weren't for the fact that everyone thought him dead, he'd think the person was doing it out of spite. Maybe they were, anyway.

The drive was long, and during it he had time to replay that moment, over and over again, when he'd responded to Suzaku's query. "Unless you kill me, you'll find out."

Suzaku, he remembered, hadn't been pleased with that one, and he'd snapped at Lelouch. "Tell me!" He'd lifted his sword again.

Lelouch had laughed. He hadn't been able to help it. Suddenly Suzaku wanted to know his convoluted scheme? He hadn't been so damn curious when Nunnally's life had hung on a scale just through a door, when Suzaku had decided to shoot off Zero's mask. There'd been no curiosity. No desire to understand. He'd told Lelouch that his existence was an error. He'd said there was no place for Lelouch in the world. And now? _Now_ he wanted to know what Lelouch was trying to do? It was too preposterous for words. "What's changed your mind, Suzaku? Don't you want to kill me?" He spread his arms wide and smirked.

"Yes. I do." It was through effort of will that Lelouch kept his smirk in place as he dropped his arms. Suzaku's response wasn't surprising, but it still hurt. "But right now, this chaos will only hurt more people. If you can end it..." Suzaku hesitated, then bulldozed ahead. As usual. "If you can end it, then I'm with you."

Lelouch couldn't believe his ears. What the hell? Lelouch had asked for help before the battle that had taken Nunnally, and Suzaku had turned his back on him. And now that Nunnally was dead, suddenly Suzaku was reaching out his hand again? Would this one be _another_ trick? Was he being played _again_? If he fell for it again–

"You have my word." And Suzaku threw his sword to the ground.

His word. Lelouch wanted to laugh again. As if his word meant anything. As if Suzaku's words held any sort of hope.

He took a deep breath. No. He couldn't allow his emotions to get a hold of him. Not again. He had to use his mind and look at all the angles. Suzaku coming after Charles had obviously been on Schneizel's command. Had Schneizel also ordered Suzaku to bring Lelouch back? It wouldn't be surprising if he was still Zero, but Schneizel would think he'd been defeated. If there was a weakness of Schneizel's, it was his arrogance. It even outmatched Lelouch's own. He could be reasonably certain that Suzaku was choosing this path on his own. Still... "Where is your Knightmare?"

"I left it after landing on the island."

There was no hint of falsity, but Lelouch hadn't seen any at the shrine, either. Still, he had no reason to lie. With Lelouch's Geass, even if he or C.C. could fight him evenly, Suzaku still would not die. There was no reason for him to lie. He'd been thinking about Suzaku wanting to bring him in to Schneizel, but really, what did it matter? Either he was lying or he wasn't. It was over – the king of Britannia was dead. Schneizel had won. Lelouch had no more pieces to play. He cocked his head. "And if I decide to become king of Britannia?"

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

There was no trust between the two of them. Lelouch remembered when Suzaku had believed him unquestioningly. When Nunnally had been taken by Mao, there had been none of this hesitancy. Not between either of them. Suddenly Lelouch wished, fervently, that those moments could be returned. But he'd made his choice. "To change the world, of course."

Suzaku stood before him, his eyes like jade stones. Lelouch's life would only have a chance of continuing if this offer wasn't false. Otherwise, his plans all ended here. He thought he'd made peace with that. It was infuriating to learn he hadn't.

But Suzaku nodded. "As long as that's your path, I will walk it with you."

Lelouch let that answer be enough. Suzaku had always been the one who'd held Lelouch's life in his hands. It would only be fitting to have him be the one to cut him down.

They'd found their way out of that hell with C.C.'s help, and when Suzaku had actually allowed Lelouch to choose where they went, Lelouch had felt something unfurl in his chest. If Suzaku truly was offering his help... if Suzaku was on his side...

Finally the damn truck stopped, and Lelouch heard the doors open and close with a slam, then footsteps. There had been two men in the truck, and one grabbed his shoulders, the other his feet. He tried his best to lay limp. It was hard to do when the two men swung him back and forth a couple of times, then tossed him like a sack of wheat to the ground. His teeth bit into his tongue as he landed, and lying limp meant landing in an uncomfortable position with one arm curled brokenly behind his body. One man spat on him, and then he heard the footsteps – receding. He almost laughed. The two men had given him as much honor as they could muster, but not even Zero could make them expend the effort of digging the evil king's grave.

He waited a damn long time before moving, far past when the sound of the truck disappeared. Far past when he'd verified that absolutely nothing existed around him. Far past even when he'd dared open his eyes, searching with his gaze to verify what he'd concluded with his ears. And when he finally did get up, he couldn't help but touch his blood-soaked clothes, ripped about four inches down by the blade of Suzaku's sword. Lelouch had insisted on the sword being red so that Lelouch's blood would not be seen on Suzaku's hands. Stupidly, he'd ignored his own symbolism by touching the mask. He was almost certain he'd left a bloodstain, though the memory was overshadowed by pain and the fuzzy image of a fading vision.

But C.C. had been right. He was still alive. He'd actually 'killed' his father, and had thus received the man's immortality. He hoped the sign of the Geass hadn't been anywhere easily visible when the men dropped him off here, lest the knowledge be spread and Suzaku learn its meaning.

He looked around. He was in farm country, in the middle of nowhere. He couldn't see the city, only fields that spanned almost every horizon. One was dotted with trees – a forest, one that most likely led to a shrine. But this wasn't the way to the Kururugi shrine. No, that path hadn't had fields that were damaged to this extent. This was... bad. Any crops that might have existed were all gone now, and with it any money the farmers may have gleaned. There were small craters in the earth that spoke of missed targets and the screech of metal. A battle had taken place here, and it was apparent that any citizens had left long ago.

Unknowingly, those two men had done Lelouch a favor.

He entered the abandoned farmhouse and looted around until he found an old pair of coveralls and a beaten shirt. With a frown of distaste, he took off his regalia and put on the old, stinking things, taking the ostentatious clothes and burning them with the oil from an abandoned kerosene lamp. The fool farmers could have ruined the area even worse with their negligence. Then he found a torn straw hat and stuffed it on his head, hoping it would at least hide his now-famous features.

It took a couple of days, but C.C. finally came to him as the sun set. He turned to the sound of someone coming, keeping himself hidden from the road and other likely paths by staying in the farmhouse itself, and watched as C.C. actually led a horse-drawn carriage full of hay to the burned-out farm. He shook his head. The woman had the strangest sense of humor.

She didn't get off the carriage, only called out, "you have a hat, don't you?" When he stepped out, she smirked and laughed. "That look doesn't suit you at all."

He waited until he was by the carriage to say, "shut up, witch," and climbed up beside her. "Now that it's official, do you want to explain to me what this immortality means?"

She sighed and tossed her hair back behind her shoulders. "Well, you obviously haven't figured out how to become invisible yet."

He glared at her. "Obviously not."

With a roll of her eyes, she pointed to her chest. "Think of it as moving through time as a line of bait does water. Standing still, sitting quiet, untouched by the goings-on around it. You want to separate yourself from the world so that you cannot touch what's around you. It's a bit more complicated and far more tiring, but think like that and you'll start feeling a sort of tremble in your gut. Then just touch that. Like an orgasm."

He blushed and glared again. He'd closed his eyes to concentrate on doing as she said, but who the hell could concentrate after someone like C.C. threw out a mental image like that? "Dammit, witch!"

She giggled. "That's right; you've never felt one before. Not even with your little pilot guardian." He huffed and closed his eyes again, trying to envision himself as a line of bait, then as a shadow. "Are you sure you're not gay?"

Just as the tingling had begun, it was lost. He snarled. "Woman!"

"Oh, that's right! You only love one guy–"

"C.C., shut up now."

She did, but only because his tone said it was now a taboo subject. She hummed a short sound and looked ahead. "Your hair won't grow. Only V.V.'s hair grew, and only because he'd been so young when he'd gotten the Code. Immortality simply means that your brain and nerve cells can now reproduce... I think. Charles only had the technology to learn about that a couple of decades ago. While they reproduce, you may not be able to move. I'm sure you found yourself unable to move after being stabbed, right?" He grunted an affirmative. "There you go. Where's your insignia?"

He shook his head. "I only had a shard of a mirror. I didn't see anything."

She frowned. "We'll figure it out later. Try to become invisible."

It was a process, but he managed it, and when he did, she handed him the reins and drew herself up to lay on the hay in the back. She told him about what had begun after his death, and he smiled as her report mirrored his hopes. Now all that was needed was Zero's persistent presence and Lelouch's continued 'death.'

He'd sacrificed everything, but it had brought him his victory. He smirked.

* * *

><p>"Everybody's got plans... until they get hit."<p>

~ Mike Tyson

* * *

><p>With C.C.'s help, they'd managed to tie thick cables around D.D. and wrap them around a pole in the abandoned underground tunnels of the old subway. The place was dark and damp and filled with scuffling sounds that alerted them to the movements of the vermin around them. A poster hung from the wall, tattered and torn and grayed out with age. D.D.'s all-white clothing stood stark against the scenery, the mold on the walls and the cracks in the floor, all shadowed within the dark emptiness of the area. Behind them, about a hundred meters past, was a turn that led a convoluted path back through the subway to the surface. In front was a maze of corridors that led further and deeper into the twisted remnants of the underground.<p>

C.C. stood away from the walls, looking almost upset that her shoes were on the floor. Lelouch was fairly certain he was wearing a similar look himself. "I can't believe you handed control to him like that," she said.

He couldn't believe she was still talking about his using Suzaku to capture D.D. "He wasn't aware, and I had a contingency plan." Lelouch stood with his arms crossed before him, glaring down at D.D.'s form. He'd hit her over the head as she struggled to gain movement again. She should be able to raise her head in a few more moments. "This woman. You have yet to explain your allegiance to her."

C.C. eyed him for a moment. "She came when I was injured, like I said. I don't have an allegiance with her or anything."

"Then why didn't you tell me about her?"

C.C. turned her gaze away from him. D.D. hissed in a breath, and both of them stood at attention as she sucked in a breath. The woman's hair, straight and white as ice, shimmered as she shook her head. She looked up with those sky-blue eyes and blinked. "For too much rest itself becomes a pain (1)," she said, just barely audible, then leaned her head back.

"D.D." C.C. stepped forward then. "I should have known you wouldn't be content to leave this truth unaltered."

"I have ever confined myself to facts." Her face and voice were still emotionless, but her gaze fell to Lelouch, and as it did something flickered in those eyes. "Thou liar of the first magnitude. A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar."

Lelouch smiled.

"Yes, yes." C.C. waved a hand as if shooing off a fly. "But I agreed with Lelouch to help create his wish."

If that was supposed to deter her, it didn't. Lelouch watched every nuance of her expression, but she showed neither surprise nor sorrow over C.C.'s words. Though to be fair, she didn't show any triumph or acknowledgment, either. She showed nothing at all. "In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are only consequences."

C.C. sighed.

Lelouch leaned down, balancing on the balls of his feet, and looked into those dead eyes of hers. He scanned her for a moment longer before he spoke. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she said nothing. He had the basics of her moves now; she liked playing cat and mouse, coming for the strike and then dancing away again. She created the fear of being caught in the lie, exposed the truth, and then murdered the liars. The fact that she'd gone to stoke Suzaku's fear wasn't surprising; it was equally unsurprising, at least to Lelouch, that poor Suzaku hadn't fully understood what was happening. She would be planning to reacquaint herself with Suzaku, perhaps leaving a more threatening message than gunshots and quotes.

Lelouch had managed to kill his immortal father, but it had been with the Sword of Akasha before him and his Geass newly perfected. He felt the shadow press of Charles' fingers against his neck and frowned. Just how was he to destroy this woman? Because obviously, killing wasn't enough.

"Lelouch, do you remember what your father – what Charles was trying to do on Kaminejima?"

Lelouch turned his gaze to C.C. "Yes." He stood, but his gaze slid back to D.D. "I remember. You're talking about how he'd wanted you to give your immortality to him."

"That's right." D.D. had no visible reaction to their conversation, but she watched them coolly. "You could do it, too, you know. Find your way back to the Sword and take my immortality." C.C. waved a hand vaguely in D.D.'s direction. "Or hers."

Lelouch frowned. It wasn't the first time he'd considered the idea. He'd promised C.C. that he would end her immortality, and he'd had no doubt that the option was still available, if only he could figure out how. The problem was trying to get D.D. to the location. He had to be invisible. He'd been lucky enough to arrive in Japan without being caught. If he tried to transport her... well, he couldn't see it going well. And for now, he simply wanted information. And the more D.D. talked, the better he'd be able to predict – and thus control – her. "The boats to Kaminejima are few, far apart, and small. It would be a lot harder getting there than it was coming here."

"We likely wouldn't be able to get in the one here in Japan, anyway. You made it rather difficult to return to, remember? We'd have to use the one in London, or the one on North America. The closest are either in old Russia or the Middle East." (2)

Still, what choices did he have? In the end, it all came down to him having to get rid of an Immortal. It would mean taking her to one of those doors and leading her to a creature vastly superior to Lelouch in strength – the supposed God. The only consolation to that fact was that the thing was mindless and obedient.

"Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him." D.D.'s white hair was falling into her cheeks, practically covering her glare.

It took Lelouch a moment to understand that she believed the unconscious in the Sword of Akasha was actually an ally of hers. She thought she was working for that God and was receiving rewards because of it. His own knowledge of the God creature, however, was weak. C.C. had only known the thing as it pertained to Charles' ambitions – or at least, that was all Lelouch had been told. Perhaps Charles had been on the right track when he'd called it God? There was certainly something strange about the thing.

"In any case," he said finally, "it would be difficult to get her anywhere while keeping her dead. Do you know of any other way?"

"If I did," C.C. said, "I wouldn't have bothered with you in the first place."

He smirked. That was true enough. "All right." It meant he would have to find a way to get D.D. to the World of C – somehow. Lelouch had thought he'd locked himself and Charles into the Sword of Akasha and destroyed that entrance. Would he have to make another one? He didn't know if he could, and if he tried, would he be able to keep D.D. dead the entire time? That would be a serious pain. But if he couldn't reach the Sword of Akasha, made specifically to give humans a way to reach the Gods and the World of C's perimeter, then how could he get near enough to be able to pull D.D. in? Besides, didn't it have to be voluntary? But no, Charles had been ready to steal C.C.'s immortality from her.

"We need more information," Lelouch said, disgusted. Before, every situation had been clear: defeat Charles, stop Britannia. He'd been thrust into the Sword of Akasha and had found himself out of his depth, but he'd managed nonetheless – he'd thought – to stop his father's ambitions and close off that world from theirs forever. Still, D.D. had found a way without using the Sword of Akasha, and so he had failed. "You've been to the Sword of Akasha in the past year, haven't you, D.D.?"

D.D. looked up through her hair. "I have never been able to grasp the meaning of time. I don't believe it exists."

Lelouch sighed. She meant, of course, that with the amount of time she'd spent as an Immortal, time meant nothing. To someone in their position, he supposed time really couldn't be measured. "Fine. C.C. We're going to the one in the Middle East. There are more routes, and the weather would be more accommodating to what we would need." He noticed D.D.'s muscles tensing and cocked his head. "I suppose the talking is over. C.C. The cable." He held out his hand. From behind him he could hear C.C.'s huff, then felt the hard metallic coil on his palm.

D.D. twisted in the cables; Lelouch heard a grating sound from her restraints just before a voice flitted down the empty tracks, the actual words muffled by the echo. The voice was deep, level, and familiar. Toudou. Lelouch cursed and concentrated on the tingle in his gut that he felt regularly now. Once he was invisible, he turned. "C.C.," he hissed.

C.C. sighed and rolled her eyes. "He knows me, you know." And she put her hands on her hips. "What do you want me to do?"

Toudou was silent now, as he, for whatever reason, came closer. Lelouch turned to D.D. She wasn't invisible, nor would she try to be. While he had to stay hidden in case Toudou showed up, she simply had to remain visible and let the man rescue her. Lelouch would have a hard time stopping such a thing. Yet even now D.D. didn't show any emotion. "Show yourself and lead them away," Lelouch said to C.C., displeased with the method but having nothing else to use. "He'll want to speak to you. You'll have about four minutes to lure him as far away as possible before he figures out that you're leading him on. We'll make our way to the docks."

Without a word, C.C. left to do as commanded, and Lelouch focused on D.D. "You can shout for him, if you want. Though it may be difficult to not sound like a madwoman, the way you speak." He smirked. From down the corridor, dangerously close, he heard Toudou shout, then footsteps. They were heading away from Lelouch. The tension in him started to ebb.

Beside him, he heard the grating of the cables turn to a sick squelching rip. He turned and jumped back as D.D. stood, her arms free of her confines and dripping blood like rain. "I don't think I should be underestimated," she said tonelessly.

Lelouch pulled out his gun, but she was already coming up to him, moving faster than he could follow. He smothered a shout that would have alerted Toudou and stumbled back. He didn't know why he was afraid. C.C. hadn't been scared of the woman's touch, which was enough proof for him that she couldn't just touch him and take his immortality. And her hands and arms were useless at the moment; she'd cut them to ribbons to get free from the cables. Her arms swung drunkenly at her sides, proof that she must have dislocated them both. Blood drip-drip-dripped to the floor.

Lelouch twisted the pistol in his hands until he was holding it more as a club than a gun. A gunshot would call Toudou straight back to him. It was the opposite of what Lelouch wanted. D.D. was standing just in front of him now. Her face was still expressionless, but her breathing was a bit fast. She would heal, but the pain would remain until then. Lelouch turned his back to the wall to keep her away from his blind spot. She moved as if unweighted by pain. Her feet moved like a dancer's. Lelouch barely managed to block a kick, and as he tried to keep his balance, she kicked him again, right on the knee. His leg crumpled, and he fell. His gun clacked on the floor as he tried to catch himself, twisting his finger into an awkward position and breaking it. The echo of the gun on the floor was as good as a gunshot.

D.D. rolled one shoulder, then the other. Great. Now she had her arms back. "If you find truth," she said, her eyes like ice as she looked down at him, "you will become invincible."

Lelouch glared up at her. "Bullshit." He swiped at her foot with the club-pistol. She danced away.

He flipped it around and shot her.

The shot just hit her leg, but she fell to the ground all the same. He knew the gunshot would call back anyone who hadn't turned around at the sound of his gun hitting concrete. At most, he had a few seconds.

Almost as if on cue, Lelouch heard footsteps. D.D. was standing as he did, placing more weight on her good leg than her bad, her eyes still empty of expression. Lelouch raised his pistol.

"Stop!" Toudou shouted. The voice was close. Maybe one corridor away. D.D. was still visible. Lelouch wasn't.

"Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses." D.D. moved to leave, but Lelouch shot her again. One sharp cry and a blossoming rose of red on white later and she was down. Lelouch stepped on her throat and crushed down on it before turning to the clopping of military boots on stone. Toudou was leading the way, his faithful Chiba by his side. Their eyes fell on D.D. Chiba cursed.

"You two." Toudou motioned to two men behind him without turning from the corridor before him. "Search the way ahead. Chiba, stay back."

"No."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. Never before had Chiba said one word against Toudou, but now here she was, her brown hair still tomboy-ish, her brown eyes still ever on Toudou's back, her voice implacable against his. "Chiba."

The two men jogged their way past the two, almost seeming like they were trying to get away from the argument. "No," Chiba said again, but instead of the thing escalating, Chiba simply walked out, her gun ready in front of her. Lelouch watched her come nearer and nearer, watched as she bent down beside D.D. and reached for her neck to check her pulse. If she reached any closer, she would touch his foot. Lelouch bared his teeth and stepped away.

D.D. gulped in air, choked, bucked, then breathed deep. Chiba recoiled. "This could be the woman's work," Toudou said, almost bumping Chiba out of the way. He touched D.D.'s shoulder as she caught her breath. "But why?"

There was nothing Lelouch could do. If he shot at the two of them, they would know another Immortal was around – not C.C., but possibly her ally. And just how many people were her ally? It was a ludicrous leap, but possible, that Toudou, intelligent as he was, would wonder just who would help her, or why, or how C.C. would have met such an ally. And if Toudou considered it a link to Geass, who would he think of other than Lelouch? It took only a grain of doubt for the truth to spread. Lelouch wanted to scream. This woman was destroying everything.

D.D. said nothing as Toudou asked her if she was all right. She said nothing as he and Chiba looked her over for injuries – already healed injuries – and, when they couldn't find any, asked her to stand and go with them to the hospital. She said nothing as they led her out. She simply looked at Lelouch, right into his eyes. Emotionless. Lelouch snarled.

From around the corner, C.C. came, yawning as Toudou and Chiba took D.D. from him. "Well. That went well."

"C.C." She looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Tail them. She won't go to the hospital."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what are you going to be doing?"

Lelouch took a deep breath. "I'm going back to Clovis' estate." He smirked. "I forgot to say hello to my dear brother."

She blinked at him.

* * *

><p>AN: Damn these short chapters!

(1) In order:  
>Homer<br>Rudolf Erich Raspe  
>William Congreve<br>Anita Brookner  
>Robert G. Ingersoll<br>William Shakespeare  
>Bible<br>Thor Heyerdahl  
>Lindsay Davenport<br>Heraclitus

(2) In R2 episode 20, a map is shown. I guesstimated areas based on that map. (Everyone: NERD!)


	5. When Doors Are Opened

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Other Note: So as I slowly try to piece together what happened when and what was said how, this is going to be a monumentally slow effort. (For those who don't know, I lost every chapter past the fourth that I'd worked on during the course of my other fic, Memento Mori). However, I have not forgotten this story, nor have I given up on it. It's just... frustrating, because things have to go a certain way. Anyway. On to the fifth chapter...

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Four

When Doors Are Opened

* * *

><p>"I sense there's something in the wind<br>That feels like tragedy's at hand"

~ Sally's Song, _Nightmare Before Christmas_

* * *

><p>Suzaku had lost C.C.<p>

The scene from the garden kept replaying in his head. Suzaku stood before Nunnally in her room now, both of them recovering from the shock of it all. Nunnally was being oddly silent, oddly... ruminating. He paced from her door to her wall. Glared at the lacey pink curtains of her window. Stared at the small painting of a garden, full of white daisies and pink carnations, along with a few others he couldn't quite name.

"I could feel him."

He turned to her. She was sitting on her bed, curled in a white nightgown and staring at the softly carpeted floor. Her hair fell over her shoulders, hiding her face from view. "Nunnally?"

"I felt him," she said, and her voice was stronger now. "I know I did." She turned her gaze to Suzaku. She had that adult look again, the look that said she understood the world. That look reminded him so much of her brother. "Suzaku, I need your help with something."

He stiffened. She'd said his name? Why? "Nunnally, you can't–"

"I felt him, Suzaku." And there were tears in her eyes. "His presence. Brother's. I felt it. Not C.C.'s. When that... whoever that was, that immortal, had shown up, I felt Brother's presence in that room."

Suzaku blinked. He couldn't breathe. It wasn't true, of course; he'd felt the sword dig into Lelouch's... but that was something else he didn't want to think about. But somehow he felt his chest seize nonetheless, as if he _wanted_ it to be true. "That's impossible, Nunnally."

Her frown deepened. He thought he might have seen tears in her eyes, but they never fell. She opened her mouth. Closed it again. "I know." She turned away from him. It physically hurt to see her turn, even though he knew why – what, in that moment, he represented to her. Her brother's killer. "In any case, I felt two presences in there, but only one attacked us. The other may not be an ally, but they obviously don't mean us any harm."

His lips thinned. It was true that the other hadn't attacked him; he'd felt no danger, no warning from his Geass. C.C.? Had it been her? What was she doing? "Schneizel will be watching out for you from now on," he said, trying to turn the conversation from... from _him_. "I want you to always be vigilant. Keep that gun on you, just in case."

For a moment, she looked at him like any female teenager would – with annoyance. "Of course," she said, and she sounded like a princess. Prim.

He smiled. The room may have been pink and lacy, but Nunnally no longer was. It was almost... sad. He could almost understand why Lelouch had so desperately tried to protect her. Sometimes he missed the old Nunnally with the easy smiles. "I know you'll be careful. I just worry."

"Zero! Sir!" Someone pounded on the door to Nunnally's room, then opened it before either of them could respond. Suzaku turned, grateful that he'd grown so accustomed to wearing the mask that he hadn't even realized it was still on. "We have a report from Commander Toudou." The man was young, probably no older than twenty-five. His hands were trembling slightly as he saluted. "He says he's found a potential victim of the..." He hesitated, then bulled on, keeping his gaze safely over Suzaku's shoulder. "The Immortal case. Sir. He's in the conference room."

Immortal case. Suzaku's lips thinned. Toudou had been by Lelouch's side for too long to not be able to put the pieces together. He knew of C.C., had probably linked the Geass to her. He also... gave Suzaku strange looks. Looks that said he knew Suzaku's secret. It made Suzaku uncomfortable to be around him. But if he knew something about this case, if he could help Suzaku solve it, then Suzaku would take it. "All right. I'll meet with him. Continue the guard around Lady Nunnally."

"Sir!"

The young guard only seemed to relax when Suzaku was out in the hall and away from him. It made Suzaku's fists clench. Once again, he was carrying the weight that Lelouch had created. The mask alone did most of the work. He could be a robot, and he would command the same respect. Lelouch had managed to create fear, loyalty, discipline, and joy, and all he'd had to do was kill and be killed. It gave Charles' words a twisted sort of sense.

He took a deep breath. The problem was that in the past year, he'd lived in a sort of haze. He'd carried out his work as the fake Zero, had helped set up the Earth Union, the peace treaty that called for diplomacy only, without fighting, in cases that created conflict between nations. Though, really, all he'd done was stand there beside Nunnally – a silent sign that Japan and Britannia could finally coexist peacefully together. Another idea of Lelouch's.

That haze had left him now, and everything that happened around him pointed to that which he didn't want to remember. His once-friend. Lelouch. Just thinking the name hurt. He didn't want to think about the man who'd killed Euphemia, who'd killed Shirley and Shirley's father and countless others. He also didn't want to think of the person who'd loved his sister, who'd befriended him when he'd begun schooling at the Academy, who'd laugh with him and him alone. He didn't want to think of the man who'd smiled as he'd told Suzaku that Suzaku could kill him. Didn't want to think of the day he'd accepted Zero's mask and the task he'd thought he'd wanted. The task he'd thought necessary, because Lelouch wasn't the man he'd used to be, and he wasn't a man who should be allowed to live.

He'd thought that, sincerely thought that, and now he was stuck with the blood of his friend on his hands. Forever stained on this mask he always had to wear.

His heart was triphammering in his chest. He ordered it to stop.

In the end, hadn't he chosen the fate of his friend, just as Lelouch had chosen his? Lelouch had demanded that Suzaku live, and now he had no choice but to do so. He'd demanded that Lelouch died, and so Lelouch had done so. Whether he himself had wanted it or not, it was Suzaku's own wish – Suzaku's 'Geass' – that had killed Lelouch.

No, he couldn't think like that. He couldn't think about how Lelouch had been right in his beliefs – how Lelouch truly had brought peace. Yes, it was at a price, but wasn't that the same as what he'd done when he'd killed his father? Lelouch had chosen to hide Suzaku's truth from everyone. Lelouch had helped him hide the murder on his hands without once saying he should die. Not once. And yet he... he himself had said that...

He shook his head, ruining, for a moment, the perfect look of an unflappable Zero. No, no, no. He couldn't think about that. He couldn't.

These were thoughts he couldn't allow himself to think. He'd known, when he'd calmed down during that month he'd spent alone, waiting to take over Lelouch's position as Zero, that he might have been wrong. Not completely, he quickly assured himself. But maybe... maybe just enough.

Just enough to think he might have been wrong... to kill Lelouch.

"Zero."

Startled, he rose his head. While he'd been thinking, his feet had moved him to the conference room. It spread far from the wide entranceway, looking large and empty with no one else inside. Toudou sat in the seat he usually took during conferences, directly to the left of where Suzaku – Zero – sat. Suzaku entered the room. "Toudou. You have a report for me."

Statements, not questions. Sometimes he hated the myriad of rules Lelouch had given him. Still, they worked. Toudou nodded and placed his hands on the table, steepling them. "That's right. I'd heard about the attack on you earlier in the evening." The man's eyes bore into Zero's mask, as if he were trying to see through it. Suzaku just barely kept from shifting under the cloak. "We saw a young woman while making our search through the abandoned subway tunnels. She had blood on her and seemed to have been injured, but there were no wounds."

Suzaku tensed. Seemed harmed but had no wounds. He thought of C.C., then dismissed it. Toudou would have named her if that was the case, right?

"I could have considered her existence in the tunnels a coincidence, but..." Toudou hesitated. His fingers clenched closer together. "I saw the green-haired girl, C.C., just before I found this woman." Suzaku jerked, then mentally cursed himself. He reacted too violently for Zero. "C.C. was running away from the scene of the girl when I heard the sounds of a struggle. When I went back, I saw only the girl, a young girl with white hair." Toudou pierced his gaze into Zero's mask again. "While on the way to the hospital, she, too, disappeared."

Suzaku's mind blanked. What? By Toudou's accounts, not only was there C.C., but also two others. Were all of them Immortals? Was there some sort of war going on between the remaining Immortals? Perhaps when Lelouch had gotten rid of Geass, he'd failed to kill the Immortals. Even Lelouch could make mistakes, right?

But what was he supposed to do? Immortals couldn't be killed, could they? C.C. had said she'd wanted Lelouch to end her existence, but how exactly had Lelouch been expected to do it? Could only Geass users kill Immortals? He remembered Lelouch killing his father, who had become Immortal. How had Lelouch done it?

But maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Sure, if he found out how to kill them, he could. He'd never liked C.C., anyway, since the bitch had been the one responsible for Lelouch having the Geass in the first place. What he needed to know was why any of this would have anything to do with him. What had the invisible Immortal woman said? Something about revealing his secret. Why would a war between the Immortals have anything to do with his secret? Unless it wasn't a war, and it was something else entirely. Were the Immortals somehow vested in what happened with Zero? Were they torn into two camps – those for the lie that was Zero, and those who were against?

"Zero?"

He just barely stopped himself from jerking back again. Dammit, he'd been spacing out. "Fine," he said, trying to regain the look Lelouch had said was so important. "I'll take care of it."

Toudou stood as Suzaku made to leave. "Wait." Suzaku stood still, but didn't turn. Lelouch's words – never follow another's orders entirely. It took away too much of your power and gave it to them. God, he hated Lelouch's games, but they worked just too damn well. He turned his gaze as much as he could without turning his head, and just barely made out Toudou as he rounded the conference table. "Do you know what that woman is doing back here?"

Toudou was tip-toeing, same as Suzaku. "No."

Toudou hesitated again. He clenched a hand around the edge of the table. Suzaku focused on remaining still. Undisturbed. "Does it have to do with your secrets?"

Secrets. Still tip-toeing, but making a bit more noise nonetheless. "No," Suzaku answered, not touching on the subject of his secrets. "It has nothing to do with me."

"Doesn't it?" the man muttered, but saluted as Suzaku continued his exit. "I understand."

"Good. Make sure to inform me of Nagisa's condition when you learn of it."

Toudou jerked a bit in surprise. "Yes. Of course."

There. With Toudou a bit more off-center, Suzaku could leave without worrying that he'd been the weaker one in that conversation. Damn Lelouch for his slyness. In reality, he just wanted to know if Nagisa Chiba was going to be all right.

And he wanted to know what the hell was going on.

* * *

><p>Kallen gazed out the window of her estate home. The garden was beautiful, perfectly tended to as usual, with lush green grass and flowers sitting cheerfully in their beds. But her eyes were on the two people outside: the gardener, talking animatedly about something – probably flowers – and her mother, seated in her wheelchair with a small blanket in her lap to keep her warm.<p>

She couldn't help but think of the man whose picture still sat on her bulletin board. It was still painful, if she thought about it too hard, to think about the boy she'd turned her back on. The Zero who had saved her, who had saved, in a way, her mother, who had saved the very world. And she could have been a part of it, if only she had stayed by his side. Would she have been the one he'd entrusted everything to, if she had stayed?

But she knew better. That role had never been for her.

She checked her watch and gasped. She was late for class! With one hand, she grabbed her backpack, and with the other she threw open the window. "Mom! I'm going to class now!"

Her mother looked up to her and shielded her eyes with one hand, then smiled and waved. Kallen waved back before rushing from her room. She had to hurry. It was bad enough that she often left or missed in order to help the new 'Zero.' The professor would have her head this time, she was sure.

On her way out of the room, she called a quick "see you later" to Lelouch's picture and grabbed the chain that held the key to her old Guren. Then she ran out the door and down the steps.

* * *

><p>"Schneizel."<p>

He locked the door behind him, amazed that it had been that easy. Even with the heightened security and the armed personnel, he'd been able to simply walk through when the soldiers switched the guard. Being invisible was like a free ticket to anywhere he wanted to go. Schneizel, too, had been easy to lure, pulling him momentarily from the hall, where he was patrolling, to Nunnally's room. Briefly he worried about the future of the world, if Suzaku was only using Schneizel to patrol the halls. But maybe his morals were keeping him from using Schneizel as he should be used.

"Zero." Schneizel looked toward where Lelouch had spoken. Lelouch instinctively moved away from the gaze. "Your orders?"

Lelouch opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. He couldn't explain it, but suddenly he felt seen. He stilled.

"Brother."

His breath whooshed out of his lungs. In the corner of her room, hidden by the closet door, was Nunnally. She was looking at where he'd spoken, too, her eyes the clear crystal that he remembered. He grabbed his chest.

"Brother. You're alive? You're immortal?"

His hands shook. He'd been careless. Because everyone else had been so... he'd allowed himself to forget that his sister had sensed his presence in the garden. Or maybe he'd wanted to forget. He backed away, back toward the door.

"Please don't leave, brother." She wheeled herself forward, her eyes now darting around the room. She cocked her head finally and closed her eyes. "I don't understand how you're immortal, but... I'm glad." She bit her lip. "I'm glad you're alive. You – do you know what's going on? Why is Suzaku being attacked?"

He hesitated. His dear sister didn't seem to have a problem with him still being alive, but even if she wasn't being deceitful, it didn't change the fact that he couldn't exist in her world. Would she hesitate in her attempts at peace, knowing he was alive? Would her priorities change?

But of course they would. They already had. The fact that she was sitting in front of him without guards, asking questions, proved that. She should be concerned first and foremost with the defense of herself and of Zero, and certainly shouldn't be naming Suzaku – though how she knew was beyond him. Had Suzaku felt morally obligated to tell her, or had she stubbornly demanded to know? It didn't matter. She should have at least been concerned with the safety and security of the world and its people, yet here she was, letting it all go for the chance to speak with her brother. And God, how he wanted to speak with her. How he wanted to lay down the burden he still carried and revel in the victory he'd achieved. How he desperately, desperately wanted to _live_.

But, he reminded himself, he'd given it all up. Gladly. So that Nunnally and Suzaku and all of his friends could live in a peace that would give them – and all future people – happiness. He just had to remember that. He would have to order Schneizel later.

But dammit, as he reached to unlock the door, he looked back at her and froze. Her bottom lip was trembling. Dammit. Dammit! He sucked in a breath. "Lelouch vi Britannia is dead," he said, and wanted to curse.

He saw her bite her bottom lip and open those big eyes of hers and look straight at where he stood. Her breaths came in short gasps that left the white blouse she wore quivering. "And Lelouch Lamperouge?" she asked. He had to close his eyes.

"He's dead, too."

He could hear her fighting against tears, but he couldn't help her through it. He unlocked the door and opened it.

"No – no, I don't care!" she said. He turned. She was wheeling herself forward again, one hand out to him. It reminded him of their parting aboard the Damocles. "I – no matter what, you're my brother and I love you!"

He froze. She curled her thin fingers into a fist and pressed it to her chest. Though her gaze was a few inches to his right and almost half a foot too low, the fire in them couldn't be mistaken. "I love you, brother. And I trust you."

She loved and trusted him? Last he'd heard, she'd been willing to kill him. To her, he was evil. He had started a war, founded a rebellion, and taken over Britannia. He had killed hundreds, if not thousands. He'd killed Shirley. Her dear Euphemia.

Well, she wasn't the only one who hated him for that.

"Schneizel," he said.

"Zero."

Lelouch remained facing the door. It was plain white, simple yet feminine, with a gilded gold handle. He touched it, wondering if they would think to search for fingerprints. He wiped it clean and pulled out thin satin gloves from his pocket. "Around the East corner of Babylon is a Jester. Meet me by his side." Once the gloves were on, he turned the handle. "And make sure you're alone – not even I can go with you. Speak to no one about this, not even me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

He knew the man was bowing, knew it by the rustling of clothing and the unsettling feeling that always meshed with the triumph he felt. He'd finally beaten his brother, and at the most important game. That gave him triumph. He'd turned his brother into a slave, a mindless creature no better than a doll. That made his shoulders itch.

It was the price of a new world. He knew it, had known it from the start. He would become a monster, because he would do monstrous things. He would become a demon, because he would torment the living. And the world would forever hate him. Even Suzaku.

But he was glad, immensely glad, that his little sister still loved him.

"Distract the guards, Schneizel," he ordered at last, and left the room. Schneizel stood and left, as well, shouting for the guards near Nunnally's room to get the rest and head to the conference room. As everyone rushed to do what Zero's personal servant asked of them, Lelouch walked right out the front door.

* * *

><p>"Nunnally!"<p>

She turned, hoping she'd managed to wipe away all traces of the tears she'd shed. Suzaku, clothed in Zero's garments, as always, ran to her side. The soldiers all parted for him, though none were officially under his command. "Nunnally, are you all right?"

She smiled. Suzaku was acting very unlike Zero, but that would only influence people more. When they saw how important she was to Zero, they would believe her invaluable to peace, as well. Surely, she thought, that had also been part of her brother's plan.

Had he also planned to live forever, and to never tell her?

"I'm all right, Zero," she said. The words seemed to remind Suzaku of the costume he wore, and he stood straight once more. She watched him dismiss the soldiers from the room. She knew without doubt that her brother hadn't told Suzaku. He'd probably told no one. It would ruin the point of him dying, wouldn't it?

Maybe, at some point, she would be jealous of C.C.'s obvious place by her brother's side all this time. But for now, all she could feel was thankful. Her brother was alive. She hadn't lost him. Anything else could be worked out.

She had seen his heart, after all. She knew exactly what Lelouch had felt, thought. All of his actions, all of his emotions. She knew them all. Even if Suzaku wanted to pretend they weren't true, she knew in her heart that her brother had hurt himself every time he'd hurt someone else. Her brother was kind.

Her brother was alive.

"Zero," she said, just as the silence between the two of them stretched a bit too thin. "Babylon. Does that ring any bells for you?"

"Babylon?" Suzaku started to tilt his head, then recognized how stupid Zero would look and stopped. "Where did that come from?"

Nunnally shrugged. She didn't like the idea of lying to Suzaku, but how could she possibly tell him that she'd met her brother, an Immortal? She knew very well that Suzaku believed Lelouch should have died. That, too, had been in her brother's memories that day. So she said, "It's a riddle. 'Around the East corner of Babylon is a Jester.' Do you have any idea what it could be?"

Suzaku's silence told her everything long before Suzaku actually spoke. "I'm sorry, Nunnally. I don't. Babylon's supposed to be a perfect place, right? And it fell due to human pride." He leaned down to be level with her. "Where did you hear the riddle? Are you able to get the answer somewhere?"

She smiled. Suzaku was a good person with a kind heart. Perhaps too kind to understand her brother and the kind of love he shows. "I could," she said, knowing it wasn't the truth, "but then the answer wouldn't be worth receiving, would it?"

Suzaku made a small sound, and she could imagine him smiling behind the mask. But then he said, "you sound just like your brother," and she wasn't sure what face he was making anymore.

* * *

><p>Lelouch was just leaving the Hanasono Jinjya Shrine – a shrine which stood on an old garden and meant "Flower Garden," and just happened to have kitsune shrines all around its borders – when C.C. gave him a call.<p>

"This is annoying," she said, and her huff of exasperation turned into a hiss of static on his end.

He finished descending the stairs to the shrine and slid out onto the sidewalk, passing straight into the city streets, turning anonymous as he traveled, baseball cap on his head and sunglasses over his eyes, toward the ghetto blocks a district south of his location. What he wanted would be most easily obtained illegally. "How many messages have been left?"

"About two dozen, though I think there's only a couple more. I'll sniff them out. What are you going to do?"

Lelouch's lips thinned. People passed him without giving him a second glance, simply passing by without thought to those around them. It was amazing how unwilling people were to engage their brains. "I made the mistake of jumping rashly into this situation simply because of emotional concerns. Do not doubt that I won't make the same mistake again."

C.C. made a short sound of amusement. "Of course."

Lelouch frowned. "Silence, witch." Another snort, which he decided to ignore. "I'm off to get what I need. You just concentrate on keeping our secrets secret."

"You owe me."

"Pizza," he said, and with another huff, she got off the line. He smiled down at the phone. Really, the woman was incomprehensible.

The city streets were perfectly maintained for another few blocks, and then a few loose chunks could be found. The streets were almost deserted despite the midday lunch rush, and with an almost stale scent, the wind whistled down the dark alleys. Lelouch waited a moment, considering his options. Letting someone attack him seemed the easiest solution, especially since he could survive anything and could force the offender to pass out – so long as he remembered what C.C. had told him, to feel the infinity inside of himself and will it into another's mind. But that wouldn't do. The faster he could put his plan into motion, the sooner he could stop D.D. from ruining his hard work.

"You."

Lelouch turned to the voice and grinned. There was a man who fit the profile of any scum dealer in the world. This model was a Japanese man, hair buzzed off and gangly arms crossed, his vest leaving his chest exposed. "Hello."

The man stopped showing off the knife at his belt and leaned against one of the city buildings. When before Lelouch had passed skyscrapers, now the buildings stood no more than five stories tall, their infrastructure fine but their appearances shot. The man tilted his head in a sort of nod. "Then you were looking for me?"

"I was." Lelouch turned to the man and held out a hand. "I need your help obtaining a few things."

"Oh?" The man took a step out. "Perhaps you should be a bit more specific."

"Beakers."

The man gave a double take. "What?"

Lelouch smiled. "Beakers, please. And a few other things, if you don't mind."

* * *

><p>The unrest in the building had finally settled, and Schneizel had returned from wherever he had fled. Suzaku had attempted to ask the man where he'd gone, but all he would say was that he'd followed Zero's orders. Finally Suzaku gave up. The man may have followed an enemy, perhaps the Immortal girl. But if that was the case, then she had returned, not for Suzaku, as he'd originally assumed, but for Nunnally.<p>

What Suzaku needed was to find C.C. If he could just pin the witch down and find out what she was doing, what was happening around him, then he would be able to fight back and protect Nunnally and this precarious peace.

"Zero. Sir." Suzaku turned from the window in his room. He didn't speak, merely acknowledged the man by turning in his direction. It was all the man needed. "Lady Kaguya has arrived. Lord Xingke seems to be recovering, so Tianzi will also be able to attend the meeting she wishes to take place."

Tianzi and Kaguya both? Suzaku stiffened beneath Zero's cape. "Why tell me?" he asked. "Lady Nunnally is the one to whom you should speak."

But the man would not be swayed. "She wishes to speak to you personally, sir." He hesitated, but looked into Zero's mask and continued. "She has heard of some of the, uh, 'commotion' here and wants to know what's happening in Japan."

"A valid concern," Nunnally said, wheeling herself in front of Zero's door. Suzaku didn't turn his body to her, but he did turn his gaze. The act was unnecessary this time, however. The guard swiveled around to face Nunnally and forgot, for a moment, about Zero's existence behind him. As it should be. "I'll speak with them. Of course, Zero may accompany me."

Zero took his cue then and moved to her side, grabbing the handles of her wheelchair. It was completely symbolic, but the idea of revolution taking a back seat to Nunnally's democratic authority made most silent. The guard fell quiet as they left, Nunnally almost leaning forward in her seat in her eagerness to arrive. The ride was short and unbroken by words. Outside the conference room stood Lady Kaguya, a once devout follower of Zero who now watched him warily, and Tianzi, who exchanged an excited wave with Nunnally. "Tianzi. How is Xingke?" Nunnally asked once they were near enough for normal speech.

"He's better," she said, but for a moment, her smile wobbled. Because better was all he could be now, and soon he would be nothing at all. Dead. But she smiled. "Kaguya told me we have other problems. Soemone's attacked a couple of times now, right?"

"Yes, but don't worry," Nunnally said, leading the two of them inside. "I won't let anything happen to you. Kaguya, either, of course."

Kaguya nodded, her eyes flickering to Zero against before she looked stolidly away. "Do you know who it is?"

"We're investigating," Nunnally said. Suzaku saw Kaguya's lips pinch.

"I heard it may be remnants of Lelouch vi Britannia's old faction," she said. Suzaku nearly nodded. It was close enough tot he truth – C.C. had been Lelouch's ally, and he had fought the Immortals.

"No," Nunnally said, her voice echoing off the walls of the room. Lady Kaguya stopped short, her mouth open to continue but no words emerging. "This has nothing to do with my late brother," Nunnally spoke, and Suzaku stiffened. Never before had Nunnally brought up her elation to Lelouch in these meetings. He looked down at her, but he could only see the top of her head and her clenched fists, small on top of the armrests of her wheelchair. "These people attacking us are attacking our peace. They aim at myself and Zero. They may eventually turn to the two of you." She gestured to both Tianzi and Kaguya. When Kaguya grimaced, Tianzi held her hands to her lips. "I will not let them harm any of us. This peace we've achieved is too precious to leave unprotected. But this does not mean that they are old allies of Lelouch's. At the end of everything, he had no friends." Her hands were shaking now. "He was alone."

Kaguya looked away. Suzaku held on to the handles of the wheelchair through will alone. The pain in Nunnally's voice matched the fire building in his own chest.

Nunnally let the silence ring for a few moments, until no one was looking at her anymore. "Therefore," she said quietly, "we must assume that these people are working for themselves. I'm sure both of you in this room know what 'Geass' is." Kaguya's head snapped up. "We know these people are those with Geass origins. Why they are attacking us is unverified, as are their identities and whereabouts. I can tell you that the citizens living here in this city are under no visible threat, but I ask for caution from both of you."

Caution. Lady Kaguya and Tianzi both took the word as one might a death sentence. "His legacy lives, then," Kaguya muttered, and Nunnally stiffened. Suzaku reached around and squeezed her shoulder. After a tense moment, she reached up and lightly squeezed back.

"Once I have news, I will share it with you immediately," Nunnally said. "You are both welcome to stay here. We'll offer you protection. But if you feel you must be somewhere else, I simply ask that you be careful."

Kaguya stood. "I understand," she said. The small jewel on her headdress bounced as she pushed in her chair. "I must speak with my Knights about this. I'm sure their protection will be best for me." Again, Kaguya sent Suzaku a withering glance. "Tianzi, you're welcome to join me." She turned and took young Tianzi's hands, but the girl shook her head.

"I'm staying here with Xingke," she said. "Nunnally and Zero will take care of me."

Kaguya visibly stiffened, but she smiled back and exchanged a few pleasantries with the girl before making a rather grand exit, her skirt flowing behind her as she left. The door slammed slightly behind her.

Tianzi looked up the table to Nunnally. "Are you okay?" she asked.

The words made Nunnally smile. "I am." She wheeled herself over to the girl, leaving Suzaku behind to watch. She, too, took Tianzi's hands, and for a moment, Suzaku saw her close her eyes. Back when she'd been blind, she'd used the tension or dampness or trembling in a hand to tell how the person was feeling, since she couldn't see their face. She opened her eyes and curled her fingers around Tianzi's palms. "Everything will be all right," she said, and Tianzi smiled back, her lips a bit tremulous.

This friendship between these girls could save the world. Three young females with ideals and hopes and experiences that hadn't broken them. They were the ones needed to guide this world on its correct path, not bitter men like himself.

He stayed in the background as Nunnally and Tianzi spoke, each giggling suddenly at a joke Suzaku had chosen not to hear. But through the double doors of the conference room, Suzaku knew there was someone waiting, waiting to show the truth of what had happened that day over a year ago, someone who wanted to ruin the chance for something better. Someone who didn't understand that the truth was not something the world needed.

He eventually led Nunnally back to her room, where she waved goodbye to him and refused to talk about her outburst in the conference room. Then he went back to his own room, with the door still being repaired and full rest therefore impossible. He had just sat on the bed when a spot of green had him shooting back to his feet.

In the corner of the room, almost hidden by the closet door, suddenly slightly ajar, was a green-haired witch. She had the audacity to grin. "Hello, idiot."


	6. A Coming Together

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Five

A Coming Together

* * *

><p>"All my heroes have now become ghosts<br>Sold their sorrow to the ones who paid the most  
>All my heroes are dead and gone<br>But they're inside of me  
>They still live on"<p>

~ Shinedown, "Heroes"

* * *

><p>Kallen strode from the campus grounds with barely constrained urgency. Kids – students, she corrected herself, though she couldn't believe the very thought – were playing Frisbee, talking on their phones about food or boys or something else ridiculous, and all the while something was happening to those leading their governments. Something that was so big that it had gotten Kaguya into a tiff and had thus led to Kallen of all people being summoned. Kallen, who had been told to have a normal life. Kallen, who could never have a normal life.<p>

So she ignored the few students who recognized her as she raced across campus, ignored the slight breeze that made the trees sway a soft hymn of a song, ignored the glaring sun that burned the sidewalk white. Something big enough to break Kaguya from her trance-like state of living, where she sat between fear of Zero and the loss of faith she'd endured. Something big enough to disturb the bubble Nunnally and Zero had created around themselves, where all they touched they touched through glass, showing their faces only to demand the world continue on its path. The path Lelouch had made when he'd decided to make Zero more than himself, more than anyone.

How she'd begged for a chance to see the world run amok once more, simply so that she could move, get involved, stand on the right side instead of facing off against the one person willing to give everything for those around him. She wouldn't be stagnant again. She wouldn't stand in the way again. She would move forward, in the right direction, for the right purpose.

She would move the world ahead, on the design that he had created – the one she'd once had faith in.

She would move.

* * *

><p>Suzaku glared across the room, his entire body frozen, unable to choose whether to strike or stand his ground. C.C. simply watched him, arms crossed, grin safely in place. "Long time no see."<p>

"Not so long. You were here yesterday." His voice sounded like Zero's. Like Lelouch's. He supposed that was why, for an instant, her smile froze and faltered. Then she shrugged.

"Semantics. In any case, you didn't see me." She stepped forward, and just like that, he pulled out his gun. She only laughed. "I do apologize for that. We were a bit busy catching someone."

We. Then there _had_ been two of them there. Nunnally had been right. "But you failed. It was the white-haired woman, right? You're fighting her."

The woman had the audacity to look surprised. "Well. I guess even someone like you can figure something out if he puts his mind to it."

Suzaku's fists clenched. He wanted to kill this woman. This woman, who was responsible for Lelouch's descent into madness. Who was responsible for everything that had happened. She was the one responsible for Lelouch's death, just as if she had held the sword herself. "Why are you back now, C.C.?"

She walked calmly into the room, and why shouldn't she? He had no way of knowing how to end her immortal existence. His gun would only slow her down. "Are you not glad to see me? We could hang out together. Reminisce."

He flinched, just slightly, but he knew she'd seen it. Those eyes of hers narrowed. "No. But we can get caught up with each other – see what one another have been doing the past year." Her lips shifted slightly, an old sign he recognized from a year ago from the short moments he and Lelouch had gotten to fighting. He remembered that very smirk when he'd called Lelouch an overly dramatic beanpole. It was one that said she was delightfully surprised with him.

"I know what you've been doing," she said, and draped herself over his sofa – still needing a few patches from the last fight in this very room – as if she hadn't a care in the world. The rage in him was warring now with something else, something more painful and infinitely more dangerous. And he thought, for a moment, that there should have been a third person in the room. The thought hardened him once more.

"Is you partner here?"

She rose a delicate little eyebrow, and her grin slipped. "No. My partner is momentarily unaware of my whereabouts. He wishes for us to leave you in the dark. I believe that to be imprudent." At Suzaku's beat of silence, she said, "that means unadvised."

He glared at her, though she couldn't see it past the mask. "I know what it means," he said, then realized he had fallen for her bait when she smirked. "Then you came to... help."

That smirk widened, and she leaned her head back, showing off her neck. His finger itched on the trigger. Her hair, when swarthed around the red cushions of the couch, seemed almost to shimmer like crystal. He considered shooting it. "The woman you met is D.D. An Immortal, like me. I had owed a small obligation to her, and so kept her existence from Lelouch."

She said it like the betrayal meant nothing, and to her, it probably was. But for some reason, the words whooshed through Suzaku like a cool breeze. Of course Lelouch wouldn't have let the woman live. He'd admitted the evils of Geass himself. Suzaku remembered Lelouch looking down at his own hand as they rested in his room, Lelouch bent over on the dark blue couch and Suzaku standing by the door. C.C. had gone to do some menial task that Lelouch had given simply to get the two of them alone, and he had said, his body clenching, his long fingers curling into a fist, that Geass should never exist upon this planet.

The memory gripped Suzaku so tightly, beat into him in the instant C.C. had absolved Lelouch of the guilt of not knowing of the immortal woman's existence, that he nearly stumbled. A fierce want shook him, the desire to see Lelouch before him on that horrible couch, plotting some insane scheme that would work perfectly, something grand and dramatic that would take the woman from the earth. He wanted to see that furrow on his brow that showed Lelouch planning moves far in the future and dissecting them, the thinning of his lips that spoke of his determination, until that light would enter those violet eyes that spoke of triumph. He wanted it so suddenly and so fiercely his breath caught in his throat.

And on the heels of that was the knowledge that the only person before him had known Lelouch far more intimately than Suzaku ever had, who had seemed to understand everything Lelouch thought before those features ever altered, the one who had been an enigmatic ally, silent and steady, by Lelouch's side, and the envy of it made Suzaku blink.

So it was while stumbling and gasping and blinking that Suzaku found himself holding out his other hand to hold his gun steady, his arm trembling, his mind flashing on more memories than he wanted, and his Geass was suddenly shouting at him to step away from her. Without any consent from his mind, his body did as the Geass ordered. "What are you doing?"

She tilted her head and frowned. "Doing?" And she saw the state he was in and stood. "I'm not doing anything." She looked down at her chest as if it were about to burst open. "But you're right; something's happening."

"So stop it," he hissed, and took another step back.

She backed away, too, and frowned. "This is new," she said, her voice nearly curious. Suzaku, for his part, simply tried to make Zero look a little less terrified. "Well. In any case. You know to keep your secret secret, don't you? You do understand that's what she's after, right?"

He tried to snarl at her, but the best he could do was a choked noise. It didn't sound intimidating. "Of course," he gritted out.

"Great. Then all that's left is to give you this." She held up a small pink origami crane and smiled thin-lipped at him before setting it on the couch. "I will be in touch again later."

He actually didn't want her to go, and he snapped a quick "wait!" before she could do more than flicker in his eyesight. She rose that eyebrow of hers again. The memories were beginning to fade, and Suzaku could finally catch a breath. "Whatever you want to tell me, tell me now."

She cocked her head and seemed to be considering for a moment, before she touched her chest and sighed. "Do you feel it anymore?" When he lowered his gun, she nodded. "It was as if you were reaching for eternity."

He didn't bother asking her what she meant, simply because he knew her riddles would only stack on top of one another until he was frustrated and snappish. "You came for more than to leave me that thing." He motioned his gun toward the crane, momentarily forgetting Lelouch's orders for minimalistic movement.

"I did." And she dared step closer. His Geass didn't act up, and she took another. "You will need to provide a boat, several – and I mean several – pounds of explosives, and your presence. Do try to keep the Black Knights away," she said.

"A boat? Explosives? Where?" Then he scowled. "Why?"

She backed away, and just as she did, the Geass told him to once again do the same. He did, nearly tripping over the ridiculous cape, before the memories could assault him again. "I already gave you the crane," she said, as if the gift had somehow put her out. "You want more?"

Details would have been nice, but she had already disappeared. He considered calling for his guards, but they had hardly seemed to be able to stop the invisible immortals before, and he finally let it go, though he did open his door and hiss a quick, "get out," to the air in his room. He thought he heard a giggle. He left the door open for a few minutes, long enough for a guard to ask if he needed anything, and then he closed it again.

And only then did he realize that, if C.C. hadn't informed Lelouch of the one immortal due to some allegiance, then the question of why her immortal partner lived was still unanswered.

* * *

><p>Chiba watched Toudou as he sat before her, his eyes far away as he contemplated within himself. Her heart lurched as his eyes flickered, his fingers tightening against one another as he stared over their steepled forms. She recognized a look she hadn't seen since Toudou turned from Zero. It was a decision he now said shamed him, though she couldn't understand why. He'd been right to turn from Lelouch, that murderer. But she didn't bother trying to say so anymore. Toudou would not budge on the idea that he'd turned from Lelouch like a samurai would his daimyo.<p>

And now that look had returned, and she knew it was because of Zero. She looked down to the bedding, the stark white sheets wrapped coolly around her, though she was minimally injured from being harmed by the white-haired woman as she escaped. She could release herself, but Toudou had told her that he would need her as strong and rested as possible. To catch C.C., or to catch the white haired woman? Or was it something else entirely that was making Toudou's eyes get that burned look to them?

She spent a few minutes looking at the room. The hospital was near Lady Nunnally's estate and housed another of Toudou's men, a new face named Paol, who had also been hurt. Both of them had already been visited by Lady Nunnally, who had looked the two of them over and asked them quiet questions about their health. The young girl was nearly a waif, and her fingers soft, but her wide eyes seemed large not for innocence, but in order to see more of the world than others. She had seemed almost preoccupied as she spoke, thanking Chiba for her efforts. Now that Chiba thought on it longer, she could swear young Nunnally had been considering something like Toudou now was, his own contemplation brought into stunning clarity by the horrid fluorescent lighting.

Finally his face cleared enough for him to look down at her, but the meditation hadn't left them. He was considering her part in the next step.

"I'm with you," she murmured, and saw his eyes clench for a moment before he nodded and stood. His eyes strayed back to her for a short instant, and she was immediately gratified. No matter how important his place was, he still searched for her at his side. And that was enough.

"Rest," he said quietly, and turned from her. On a mission once again. To Zero? Because of Zero? But she kept her questions to herself. Toudou seemed ready to make another choice of loyalties, and it would not be her place to stand in the way of his decision. Her own would be the same, the vow she'd just given him. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.

* * *

><p>"Ah, Kallen. You've arrived." Lady Kaguya turned as Kallen burst into the room, the doors banging loudly against the walls. Kallen had grown a bit taller, leaving Kaguya to look even younger by comparison. When Kallen stopped to stand just before Kaguya, she almost seemed to dwarf the young girl.<p>

"What's happened?" she asked, ignoring the welcoming banter being thrown at her. Shinichiro, in particular, seemed hellbent on being heard, waving his arms and cheering.

The room was large, but still carried the same feel of that first house they'd stayed in when they had first joined Zero. The symbol he'd given them was displayed on flags on all four walls, the table the same dark mahogany of the banisters from the original house. She stood straighter than before, as if the room itself were a part of his presence, and thought once again how sad it was that they had all been so altered, yet none ever accepted.

"Zero and Lady Nunnally have both been attacked by someone with Geass."

That brought the banter in the room to a screeching halt, and Kallen's eyes widened. "But that's impossible," she said, and her fingers tightened around one another behind her back. She felt the key to her old Guren like a dead weight on her chest. "How could that be?"

Kaguya's eyes narrowed, and suddenly Kallen didn't want to hear what the girl was about to say. She bit her lip to keep from interrupting. "Though I do not share the opinion that Zero's presence is a positive one, the people love him." Kallen's heart bounced in her chest at the words; her lip turned numb from the pressure of her teeth. "And Lady Nunnally is a good leader. If nothing else, we must protect her. Empress Tianzi has chosen to stay at Lady Nunnally's home with her. We have two jobs to do here." She looked at the Knights before her, each moving easily into position. "We must protect those within the estate's walls and put an end to these Geass users once and for all."

There were cheers, catcalls, and Shinichiro shouting, "yeah! I'll take them all on! All of you newbies who weren't there for the war can hide behind me." And that brought on a few angry retorts that Shinichiro argued over.

Toudou entered the room then, turning the angry shouts to nothing more than strained silences. Shinichiro punched a new guy, Jae's, arm. Jae glared.

"Toudou!" Kaguya said, and nearly bounced where she stood until Toudou finally stood beside her. "This is an unexpected surprise. You usually do not come for these meetings anymore."

Toudou looked over to Kallen. She stiffened under his gaze, unsure whether to be envious of his place beside Zero or put off by the look he was giving her now. "I can give you information on te new Geass user," he said, his voice nearly monotonous.

She beamed up at him. "Will you be returning to us, then?"

But Toudou was already shaking his head, and her smile dimmed somewhat. "No. My place remains by Zero's side." The words made Kallen lean forward, nearly into Kaguya's space. She wanted to speak them, as well. But she didn't know that she would be welcome. The man under the mask was not one she thought would welcome her, nor did she owe her allegiance to him. But then Toudou's eyes met hers once more, and her heart began thundering in her ribs. "But I will give you this help, in the hopes that you will assist Zero when the time comes."

Kaguya's happiness dimmed to nothing, like a spark had gone out. "You wish for me to help Zero."

"Zero is not Lelouch," Toudou said, though something flickered in his eyes as the words slipped free, and she knew without doubt in that instant that Toudou knew Zero's secret, too, and stood by his side. She remembered Toudou having been Suzaku's mentor before the war and wondered if the man had taken that position once again. And suddenly she wanted to do the same – to stand as Zero's guardian. Her rightful place. "He is a symbol of justice. He, too, is conferring with others on how to rid this country of the Geass threat."

He said no more, and Kaguya went silent. The little girl's body was shaking. She studied the table before her.

"I'll do it!" Shinichiro said. "Zero saved us! He's the hero of Japan, and he's my buddy. I'll always have his back."

Other members of the Knights looked at one another. The older members recognized Zero as synonymous with Lelouch, but the world did not. And dear Shinichiro had gotten to the heart of the matter, though he probably had no clue of it. "As will I," Kallen said, though she did not move from her position. She saw Kaguya look up at her from the corner of her eye. "Zero has always been the symbol of light in the darkness. He is justice and equality itself, and he appointed me as his guardian long ago. Where he stands, I stand." And she turned to Lady Kaguya. "There is more than just names," she said, softer now, as other voices slowly chimed in. "We have peace, when before we faced nothing but an honorable death. He gave us life, and hope, and our futures."

Kaguya did not seem to agree, but more voices were calling out, until the room rang with the constant shouting of, "I'll go!" and "For the UFN!" and finally she sighed, dropped her head for a moment, and nodded. When she looked back up at Toudou, the grin was gone, and only the leader of the nations remained. "We accept this, and I pledge to you our support of Zero against this enemy."

Toudou nodded. Kallen tried to catch his eye once more, but it seemed that time had passed. "She is small looking and seems harmless. Her hair is white, though she looks young, and she has only a slight build. Yet she can fight with a strength greater than a man." And as Shinichiro snorted, Toudou said, "she threw Nagisa against a nearby building before turning to Paol and breaking his arm between her hands."

Shinichiro went silent. His jaw dropped almost comically.

"How is that possible?" Kaguya asked, her voice quiet, yet resonating. "Is she like the woman who had stood beside Emperor Lelouch?"

Kallen didn't know how to respond to the myriad of emotions those words stirred up, but it did when Toudou said, "yes, I believe so. It also seems that C.C. is fighting this woman."

Jealousy.

It was a strange feeling, and Kallen wasn't sure if it was brought on by knowing that woman had stood by Lelouch to the end or if it was knowing that the woman was getting first crack at the bitch who was trying to tear down Lelouch's last masterpiece. She reached up and touched the key to her Guren. "I want to fight, as well," Kallen said, and all eyes turned to her. Kaguya stood silent, almost mournful, but Kallen didn't feel the slightest bit of loss. Trying to live a normal life never would have worked for her. Fighting, defending – that was where her heart led. "I want to stop this girl."

And Toudou nodded. "We are going to search for her," he said. "I know her last location, and Xingke may have an idea of how to track her."

Kallen nodded. "Then we'll go." It would be better if those who knew Lelouch's secrets were the ones who got close to C.C. "Everyone else should protect Lady Nunnally, Empress Tianzi, and Lady Kaguya."

Shinichiro slammed both hands on the table, making it shake. "I want to fight, too!"

Others voiced their agreements, and Kallen wished Ohgi weren't busy with Vi and his baby. Then she regretted the thought. All Ohgi had ever wanted was a family and a peaceful life. Now that he finally had them both, how could she begrudge him his happiness?

Then someone started shouting at someone else, two newbies who had yet to test themselves in battle, each laying claim to being stronger than the other, and she thought maybe she could begrudge anyone a little bit of anything if it meant she could stop the growing headache from spreading.

Toudou cleared his throat and glared shortly around the room. A few older members actually dropped their heads in shame. "We need some of our best to protect our leaders. Without them, any fighting would be for nothing."

Kallen had to bite her lip again to keep from laughing as Shinichiro's eyes lit up. "Well, I understand that you would consider me one of the best. Of course I am! I was with Zero from the beginning!" And he threw his head back and laughed. Several others laughed, as well, but their faces said it was more at than with. It all seemed to strengthen their resolves, however, and no one put up further protest.

Kaguya kept her eyes on the table.

Kallen placed one hand on her shoulder, until Kaguya turned her big eyes upward. "We will protect this peace," she said, and Kaguya nodded. She didn't apologize for calling Kallen in. It would be useless; she'd felt she'd needed to do so. And Kallen didn't want the apology. For the first time in a long while, she felt as if she were walking on the right path.

She turned to Toudou. "Shall we?"

And Toudou bowed and led the way out.

* * *

><p>"No, you don't get this." Lelouch held the pizza away from her as he stomped over to the abandoned house's kitchen countertop and dropped the delicious-smelling box away from her. Then he turned that glare of his back on her. "I told you to leave him out of this."<p>

The kitchen had seen several better days. The countertops and floors all had little black things on them that Lelouch guessed had more to do with the new residents than dust or grime. The only thing in the room was what looked to be a cardboard box, which some enterprising soul had switched into a trash can of sorts and which smelled of things so far rotten they'd returned somewhat to soil. Someone must have decided to camp out within these four walls before they had, but had left some time ago. Lelouch wondered idly what the bathroom looked like.

C.C. eyed the pizza like one might the Holy Grail. He stepped in front of her eyesight, and she glared. "He's already involved, Lelouch. You can't stop that. What you can do, however, is explain these horrid living conditions."

"I need to wait for my contact to find the things I've requested, and no one searches very hard through this neighborhood." She didn't seem to be listening to him; her attention seemed trapped on whether it was worth the effort of getting up and making some sort of lunge for her pizza. He took it and dumped it in the trash. C.C. gave an incoherent cry of protest, one hand reaching imploringly for the food.

Then she sat back, crossed her arms, and sulked.

Lelouch sighed. It wasn't as if he didn't understand where she was coming from. Technically – normally – one would gain alliances with those who were enemies with their enemies. It was normal, so normal there was a phrase for it. But nothing about this situation was normal, and if he wanted any chance of not being hunted down by his ex-friend when all of this was over – or, knowing Suzaku, before anything was even remotely over, and while the surprised rage was still building inside the idiot's jock chest – then he had to play his cards just right. C.C. had given away the information that there was another immortal on her side, the witch, and had even let it slip that the immortal was a man. Lelouch had no doubt that Suzaku couldn't possibly begin to put the pieces together, but he couldn't be certain the man wouldn't go on a full hunt for C.C. and her unknown partner.

Which of course would get complicated by the fact that Nunnally already knew who the partner was, and if Lelouch didn't want her suspicious actions to wake up the knowledge that even Suzaku may potentially (if a miracle occurred) put together, then he was going to need to keep all of his little ducks in a row.

And his most irritating little duck was staring petulantly at the pizza sliding inexorably down into the pile of rot. He snagged it before it could go too far, even though the thought of touching it now made his fingers itch. C.C., however, perked up at once. "Suzaku's involvement will destroy this."

"You needed to be able to get into the World of C. Trying to get to the Middle East would cause even more problems, wouldn't it? Trying to even find the place would be difficult, even with our link to the unconscious."

Lelouch grimaced. Of course it was true that going to the nearest entrance would be optimal. But to get Suzaku to help them with it... "If he finds out about me..."

C.C. gave him a familiar look. "You were the one who chose to show yourself to Nunnally." Lelouch gritted his teeth. "That boy couldn't put any of it together alone. But with her help..."

Again, true. If he hadn't let himself be lax in his espionage – or, more honestly, if he'd had the willpower to not meet with Nunnally one last time – then half the problem wouldn't be there. But that moment had come and gone, as had C.C.'s. There was nothing left but to move forward. He sighed, and C.C. took the chance to open the box and see what was salvageable. She made a happy noise, and Lelouch left the kitchen and through the connected living room. The stairs leading up looked sturdy enough, save for the gaping hole on one of the higher steps that told of a hidden structural weakness. He cloaked himself and stepped out the front door.

There were a few people milling around, but that was because darkness was coming. No one paid attention to the door opening and closing on its own, ignored evidence of the unreal. People, willingly blind, worried only about their own little worlds.

He could see, vaguely, Nunnally's hand in this place despite its neglect. Could see the posters for education that had been vandalized, most likely the same day they'd been put up. He could see the park, just a bit away, kept surprisingly clean, though only a few people hung against the chain link fence surrounding it. A basketball court sat within, the nets long gone but the court oddly pristine. Nunnally was trying to save the world from itself, fixing what Lelouch had been unable to touch. It made him smile. It hadn't changed many, but he imagined a few had seen the posters and had dreamed.

The night was ugly in this corner of the city, blanketed by spotty lamplight and indistinct figures crawling through the dark, slinking around the lights to rendezvous points they should never reach. He imagined acting against them, acting as an invisible vigilante, and shook his head at himself. In that same dream, he could walk with Nunnally through the place, see her scrunched face as she saw others' pain and vowed to fix it, and he would be advising her. And at that time, he perhaps would not be invisible.

He ignored it and walked to his own rendezvous point, letting the impossible drip off his back like water. The streets were far more alive now than during the day, as people from every walk of life came in hats and sunglasses and hunched shoulders to meet with those who leaned possessively against the walls, knowing their superiority to the rest of the rabble, knowing these streets like their own skin. Lelouch, invisible, tracked the movements of these men, how they walked, how they sneered, until he could adopt their mannerisms if he had to. But still he walked as he always had, as he'd been taught from birth, with a strong stride and his chin high. A noble.

He arrived at the designated drop-off, a building two blocks from his hideaway, one overgrown with underbrush but otherwise in good condition. One might think it almost a haven in this corner of town, but the smells surrounding it suggested a good deal of drugs, and the boarded-up windows, despite the good maintenance, told of dealings going unseen. Lelouch had arrived early, and he swept the area. There were several people waiting here, and several more people who came to meet them. It was a good place for the man to choose, normally – so many people not wanting to be seen will not want to see. But the businessmen and those from better position would have an easier time recognizing Lelouch, and that was bad. He touched his hair, then grabbed a hat from the myriad of items discarded from the ground. Darkness couldn't hide his profile, and he practiced adopting the stances he'd seen on his way over.

He'd just gotten it down when someone raced up to a man leaning on the other edge of the wall a few meters from where Lelouch stood. "Stick," the leaning man said, acknowledging the other man as Lelouch might have a member of the Black Knights. Stick doubled over for a second, clutching his side, and the man crossed his arms and tapped his fingers. The action wasn't one Lelouch would normally employ, but it got the man talking. "The embassy," he said, and gasped, as Lelouch's body tensed. "Something's happening."

"'Something's happening,'" the man repeated, slowly, as Lelouch's heart pounded in his chest.

"There's been an attack. It looks like everyone's running mad."

Lelouch itched to leave, but he stood his ground. He felt someone near him and turned to see his own contact coming to their meeting place. He snarled.

"The guards locked the place up. I saw Zero, too! He was running down the halls." Stupid Suzaku, acting foolish all the time. Unless Nunnally had been in danger? "And others, all heading somewhere. I don't know what's going on, but something's going on, and they're trying to hide it."

That was all the useful information Lelouch was going to get. He looked at his contact and controlled his features, then hugged the shadows and slowly showed himself, acting as if he'd just turned the corner. His contact jumped, but he nodded. "I got the stuff," he said, and Lelouch felt something in him churning.

"I'll have someone here to pick it up in an hour," he said, and though the man frowned, Lelouch gave him a small wad of money, and the man was appeased. He turned on his heel, turned the corner, and disappeared once more. Then he ran back to that dilapidated house, to C.C., and forced himself to slow only to open the door. This time, someone stared, and he snarled.

She was nearly don her pizza, and when he demanded she come with him, she even let the last piece go to waste. He supposed something in his countenance warned her. He didn't care.

"Another attack?" C.C. asked, her tone just slightly disbelieving, and Lelouch got the message. This was not one of D.D.'s games of cat and mouse. This was a true assault.

"Get the items from our friend," he said. "I'll distract her until you get them to the embassy."

She didn't bother asking him any questions, as his plan twisted in on itself. Still, he had to act. Against an immortal, a mortal would die. Not Suzaku, most likely, because of his Geass, but Nunnally, surely, and perhaps others who couldn't afford to die. Empress Tianzi and Xingke were both staying there, after all. They were integral, as well.

C.C. broke away from him to do as he said, and Lelouch hurried to the embassy, his lungs heaving like Stick's just a few minutes ago. He grimaced. He wasn't cut out for running.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the two slower chapters, but everything needed to be set up for the next chapter. D.D. finally makes a return. With her horrible speech patterns. DX


	7. His Own Will

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Warning: I suck at chemistry.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Six

His Own Will

* * *

><p>"It's a desperate situation<br>No tellin' what you'll do"

~ "My Give A Damn's Busted," Jo Dee Messina

* * *

><p>Kallen hesitated as Toudou turned toward Nunnally's estate. She held her hand to her necklace, wishing desperately for her Guren, knowing it had been locked away with the other Knightmares for a reason, knowing the only way to get it would be for Nunnally, Tianzi, and Kaguya all to give her permission. Still, the key gave her confidence, and it was with that that she stood her ground as Toudou ordered her to hurry.<p>

"My job is to look for C.C.," she told him, and his eyes narrowed. She stood firm. "If she's working as I think she is, then she'll come this way," she said, gesturing to the crowd pooling around the entrance to the embassy. C.C. would have to battle her way through them, which meant she would have to show herself. That meant Kallen would be able to catch her. She knew Toudou had figured it out, too, knew the man would be hesitating in protecting the man he'd sworn himself to or completing his duty. She nodded toward the building. "Go to him. I'll stay here for her."

It wasn't as if she didn't want to fight. The very idea of not standing by Zero's side made her body burn. But more than that, she wanted to find out what C.C was doing, if she was acting on Lelouch's last orders. And if the woman was, then Kallen knew she would have to help the green-haired bitch. In order to redeem herself from her shame.

Toudou also seemed to see this, and he bowed his head to her before hurrying off. Kallen only watched him for a short second, then she scanned the crowd. Civilians had heard the crashes, the small explosions that had eventually alerted the cops, and then those like herself out in the field.

There was no official story about what was happening inside, but battles were difficult to misunderstand. This time, any chance of hiding the fighting was gone. Already several news crews were camping out in front of the embassy, some braver reporters coming to her to demand to know what was happening. Thankfully, the cops were keeping people away. Kallen didn't want to be responsible for punching some paparazzi's face in.

The sounds crescendoed, and Kallen wanted desperately to move inside and defend Lelouch's legacy. She kept her feet planted through sheer effort. C.C. would certainly be here soon.

She heard shocked shouts coming from her left then and turned. The group of people were turned away from her and the sounds of battle, and Kallen felt something in her chest clamp. There was a shocked scream from a woman, and then people were moving away, leaving a bright arch. Kallen hurried forward, even as two cops came over to ask what was happening.

"Someone's collapsed!"

She pushed one of the cops as he prepared to break formation and see who'd fallen. At the sight of her, dressed as she was in her old Black Knights uniform, he quickly stumbled aside.

There really was someone on the ground, and that someone didn't look like C.C. The woman was petite, wider than C.C., and seemed to have a permanent tan. Still, Kallen moved forward cautiously, noting the slim jeans and bright, sparkling shirt. The woman had most likely been on a date, or perhaps at a club, when she'd heard the commotion and come to investigate. She tried to imagine C.C. wearing the outfit and could easily picture it, the arrogant harlot. But this wasn't her. She checked the woman for injuries, then turned her around. Someone snapped a picture, and she glared a warning at the crowd.

The face was all wrong. Larger nose, eyes a bit closer together, lower cheekbones. It wasn't her.

A diversion, then.

She searched the crowd, but she couldn't see any woman who fit the figure she was hunting for. Then, for a split second, she thought she saw a very familiar back, one she'd followed, guarded with her life. Then just like that it was gone, and she blinked. She took a deep breath and stood. "Get her to the hospital," she said to the cop, and returned to her place before the crowd. C.C. may have been able to sneak around her while she checked the victim, but she was staying a bit longer nonetheless. If she heard anything new inside, she would know C.C. had joined the fight. Only then would she leave her self-imposed post.

* * *

><p>The embassy was in chaos.<p>

Lelouch stared at the lobby, amazed at how quickly things has escalated. The flags were torn from their hangings, the tables filled with pamphlets and papers now broken, their contents strewn across the floor. Just inside, past the large entry room, was the main room, wide and round, the flags of every country on the wall. But now everything was torn, ripped, pulled asunder, and as Lelouch walked through, thankfully invisible, he saw bodies. Guards only, he found, and felt a wave of relief. Then he looked around again, his gaze more critical.

Bullet holes shaped the walls, telling of a mad race to find the perpetrator, even without seeing her. There were no unmanned blood splotches, however, so D.D. was still most likely unharmed. The men were killed with bullets, as well. The woman had a gun. She most likely wasn't trying to use any sort of subterfuge, which left her with anything from a pistol to an automatic – the shots were too focused to be shotgun blasts, but some men had more than one bullet in them. Most likely at least a semi, but Lelouch wouldn't count out a pistol hidden somewhere on her.

The fight hadn't started in this room, but had been carried. Most men were turned to the hall on the right, the one Lelouch knew led to Nunnally's and Zero's rooms. Which had she been after? Or had she sought both? Lelouch's lips thinned. In any case, she'd gone to the right, toward the meeting and guest rooms. If she continued further, she could head to the gardens – and the unknown entrance that she may be aware of now, after Lelouch and C.C. had dragged her dead weight through it.

That meant she still had a potential escape route that no one else knew about. Which of course meant that Lelouch needed to hurry.

But his priorities remained the same, and he marked a corner of the room near the floor for C.C. when she arrived, a quick 'x' and a short caption. Then he hurried to the right, ignoring the shouts and calls and stamping feet from his left, to study what had happened before the main room had been hit.

Lelouch traced the bullet wounds into the right hall. Two bodies slumped against one another on the floor; they'd obviously stayed back to provide cover fire, and Lelouch wondered if they'd been doing so for Zero's sake, Nunnally's, or both.

He nearly ran into two soldiers as they hurried past him, and he had to flatten himself against the wall. They were carrying an injured man between them. From what Lelouch could see, the wounded soldier wouldn't make it outside. The men carried him through the main hall, anyway, and Lelouch continued to Zero's chambers.

It was immediately apparent that this was where it began. Here there _were_ unmanned blood spills, along with upended tables and chairs, and while Lelouch marked off two different areas, he tried to correlate how things happened. The blood arrowed out from the doorway, as if Suzaku had stepped into the room, found D.D. within, and opened fire. The knee-jerk reaction to shoot first, ask questions later certainly seemed like Suzaku's inelegant approach, but the idea of D.D. standing and waiting grated. She liked surprises, big surprises that would involve everyone. She also liked having the upper hand. She would be the one to make any sort of movement. She wouldn't wait.

So he looked at it again before he left, even as something several halls down crashed and broke. Suzaku had been standing in the doorway, that was certain. Had he in fact been leaving? Or had he been backing away from D.D.? But that wasn't his style.

He made a small sound of triumph and smirked. Suzaku wouldn't have been the only one in the room. Nunnally, probably, and possibly Tianzi, as well. So Suzaku had been on the defensive as D.D. made her appearance. Now that he paid closer attention, the upended table, pockmarked as it was with a few bullet holes, made sense as a shield. The chairs were thrown around the room – distractions. Suzaku had led Nunnally and potentially Tianzi from the room, shooting as his Geass ordered until he'd finally managed a few blows. The gunshots would have alerted the guards, and the threat to Nunnally would have made Suzaku run, thus the report of Zero racing through the halls.

He sighed and hurried to Nunnally's room, marking off another corner before running down the next corridor. He was officially panting. He hadn't had to run this much even as Zero, and he was severely out of practice as it was.

The fighting was getting worse. Shouts, screams. Worse, the moments when absolute silence reined, and Lelouch systematically pocked off pieces of the walls and furniture, always sliding just past the edges of gunfire and broken appliances. When finally he finished, he sighed, stood at his most regal height, and tucked the marker into his pocket. Then he waded through the massive clumps of bodies and followed the shouting to its source.

* * *

><p>C.C. hissed at the size of the crowd. It was like a wave crashing to the shore, a moving mass of weight and body temperature that swarmed over the police barricade she couldn't even manage to see. Hulking masses of morons incapable of getting on with their own business. She huffed. And of course Lelouch had given her a small box full of things she couldn't half name. She wouldn't even be able to get through the crowd with it, let alone bring it inside and figure out just what Lelouch had planned with it all.<p>

Her hat was a pathetic disguise if she was going to have to spend an inordinate amount of time with these fools. She considered going invisible and just letting people see a floating box, but she didn't enjoy the thought of getting shot, and Lelouch would be even more irate if she managed to get his supplies destroyed.

It didn't leave her a lot of options. She was either going to be invisible and be picked off, or she would be visible and she would be stopped. Stupid Lelouch.

She sighed. It meant a distraction was in order. She could already see Lelouch's face – exasperation, annoyance. Another night without pizza. But it wasn't her fault! She glared at the idiot bystanders and walked off. It was because of them that she wouldn't get any pizza. If anyone should be punished, it was them.

She blinked. Should she...? But she barely considered the prospect of showing them all infinity before she just strode away faster. As if that would do her any good. Lelouch would never forgive her, and the amount of time it took would be about equal. The distraction would be better. Hopefully she could explain her tardiness.

* * *

><p>Several times, Kallen almost ran into the building. Several times, even though the sounds of battle were recognizable to her. There were no sudden changes in movement, no startled voices or sudden shifts. And while C.C. was an Immortal, she wasn't on Lelouch's level of genius. She would be more obvious than that.<p>

And as if she'd summoned the woman through thought alone, a crash and screams resounded from just a short pace from the estate. The crowd turned almost as one, greedy for the chance to see carnage, even as women covered their mouths and men hunched their shoulders. Fools who didn't understand what destruction truly was.

And some of the guards holding the people back raced to the scene. And Kallen knew her patience had finally paid off. So when a patch of people moved to see what had happened – from the smoke and the honking cars, it was most likely a crash of some kind – she was prepared to see something impossible. And she did, almost immediately: from the curling mass of turning onlookers, she saw a box. It floated in midair, touched no one, and moved sedately toward the entrance to the building.

C.C. was finally here.

Kallen nearly ran over and stopped the woman. But she couldn't. Now, in the moment she'd awaited since she'd heard C.C. was back, she hesitated. Just what was she going to do? Stopping C.C. Might mean making her run, and whatever she was doing, she was helping Zero. Of that, if nothing else, Kallen was certain. And if Kallen scared her away, then any chance of learning what Lelouch had demanded of her could be lost. She would have to be careful.

So instead of grabbing for the woman, Kallen waited until she slipped inside. The door actually opened and closed – Kallen had been curious as to whether that would be necessary or not – she followed after, keeping silent as possible. Someone called to her, but she just waved in their general direction and ignored them. She wasn't called for again. It wasn't like she was an average cop, in any case, and she was free to do as she pleased. The perks of having friends in high places.

But when she entered the building, just a few moments after the door closed behind the immortal, C.C. still stood just a pace ahead. She placed her box on the ground and knelt. One finger traced the wall as if memorizing its texture. And then she smirked.

Kallen stayed hidden by the entrance, tucked into the jamb as much as possible, unable to move forward or backward for fear of catching C.C.'s eye. And as she watched, nearly holding her breath, C.C. opened the box and shifted the contents within. Glass chinked together, and something rustled. Then C.C. pulled out what looked to be a bunsen burner and a beaker, then placed them before her. Kallen tensed. Had the woman done it before? There were black marks on the wall. Was she in the habit of burning things in the entrance to Nunnally's home? Why?

She nearly gave herself away when C.C. turned the thing on, and only stopped before she realized the thing was a portable one. Had she brought it here for some purpose? And then she pulled out what was obviously some sort of powder, then some liquid. Kallen glared as she mixed the two together.

Immediately, smoke poured out from the small beaker, pluming into the air and sinking to the ground. C.C. wrinkled her nose and stood, grabbing the box once more.

What the hell was going on?

Battle cries sounded suddenly from their left, and C.C. cocked her head once before eying the room. She went to another corner, repeated her ministrations, this time causing something that made the air above the beaker haze like a thermal, then left, heading to the right, away from the fighting.

Kallen scowled. Just what was the woman planning?

She waited a few moments, not wanting to get caught, then hurried over to the hopefully-harmless gas still spewing from the mouth of the beaker. There really were black marks on the wall, but they weren't scorch marks. She recognized the small marks as writing just before she froze.

She recognized it.

All of it. More than was possible.

Her hands trembled as she reached out to trace the thin script. It wasn't possible. But she would recognize it anywhere. He'd given so many instructions, some of them simply left out for her to peruse, and after she'd found out his identity, he had no longer bothered hiding his handwriting from her. But... but it couldn't be.

Left behind. Maybe he'd planned for these things all that time ago, and had just left these notes behind so C.C. would know what to do?

She leaned her head on the wall, even as a strange, cloying scent drifted in the air. Yes, that had to be it. Lelouch the genius had prepared for the building to be broken into, and had readied this just in case. She curled her fingers against the wall until she could tap her fists against the plaster. He'd planned his own death, after all. Why not plan for possible circumstances that could arise afterward?

She took a deep breath, then another. The smell was getting worse – undoubtedly from the second concoction. She straightened. If C.C. was following signs left all those years ago, then Kallen had to follow, as well.

C.C. had gone right, most likely to set up the rest of the trap. Kallen would do her part, as always. And her job was to defend Zero.

She turned left.

* * *

><p>"I'm waking up to ash and dust.<br>I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust  
>I'm breathing in the chemicals<br>I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus  
>This is it: the apocalypse."<p>

~ "Radioactive," Imagine Dragons

* * *

><p>More bodies littered the floor the further he traveled, but now they faced in all directions, back where he'd come, forward to where he pressed on. He had to stop far too many times to leave notes for C.C., until he was afraid anything he did would be too late. But he heard someone just before him, still fighting, shouting, and his racing heart calmed. If anyone was still alive, then that meant Suzaku was, too. And as long as he lived, Nunnally would remain safe.<p>

But they were close to the gardens, just before it, apparently in the room just before, a room Lelouch remembered as a waste of space, holding another small table in the middle and several chairs acting as a sort of settee. The paintings on the wall, when Lelouch had been living there, had been of nobility enjoying balls and dances. The room, though spacious, had been fairly small, and hadn't provided a second exit. Lelouch's lips thinned. Even Suzaku wouldn't be stupid enough to enter such a room. So had he been herded there, or had he gotten desperate? Only a few things would make Suzaku desperate enough to run into a dead end, and all of them were bad.

But then he heard the shouts again, this time pockmarked by bullets, and the tension eased again. That voice was Xingke's. It was pained, tired, and explained why Suzaku had let them all be trapped. The idiot.

Obviously Tianzi and Nunnally had both been heading to Suzaku's room, for whatever reason, and interrupted whatever was happening between him and D.D. That much he'd already gleaned. But when they'd been attacked, someone had gotten hurt. Knowing Suzaku, it wouldn't be Nunnally – he would have moved instinctively to protect her. That left only Tianzi since Suzaku wouldn't slow down for any injury of his own. And Xingke would come forward as soon as sounds of battle could be heard, and would only stay by Tianzi's side.

All things considered, Tianzi would be injured. Not severely, or Suzaku would have taken the shot himself and just turned it into a minor wound. So probably just on her leg somewhere. Enough to slow down attempts to retreat. Enough to force them to hole up somewhere. Lelouch worried about the femoral artery; if the girl died, then tensions between the Chinese Federation and the old Britannian Empire would rise anew.

Things had to be settled.

The hall to the room was wide, though narrower than those at the front of the building. Still, Zero and Nunnally could walk side by side through the hall if they desired. Yet now the space was constricted with bodies. Some lay in the middle of the walkway, inhibiting straightforward progress, while still more leaned against the walls, throats ripped open. Blood nearly painted the walls red. Tapestries and paintings littered the floor, covered the carcasses. Weapons lie forgotten at men's feet. Lelouch picked one up and checked to be sure the blood hadn't ruined the gun. Only a few bullets remained, but that was fine. He would have to time them perfectly, in any case. And he only needed three.

Still, he waited. Though he itched to run forward, he needed to balance his timing perfectly. If he moved too soon, he would only be delaying the inevitable in getting her to leave. He slipped past the room, waiting for the time when bullets flew again, and hurried past to the gardens. He couldn't help but take a peek inside, and though he'd been prepared for it, it still caught chokeholds in his memory.

Of course Suzaku had Nunnally and Tianzi hidden in the far corner of the room, where they would be safest. Nunnally, lying on the ground without her wheelchair – he'd seen it in Suzaku's room and had hardly thought on it, knowing Suzaku would scoop her up and run with her without having to think about it – was tending to Tianzi, a fierce, nearly angry look on her face. Tianzi was huddled on the floor, fighting tears as Nunnally wrapped a piece of her dress around the girl's leg.

D.D. was facing Suzaku, staring into the room, thankfully mindless of what happened behind her. Her clothes were stained crimson, finally, to the point where even the tips of her hair were reddened. Yet she remained invisible to the men. It was obvious by Kingke's stance that he had no clue where she could be, and was angry with the whole situation. Well, he would be, at least until Tianzi was safe.

But Suzaku. Suzaku, golden, glorious jock that he was, was staring straight at her. And every time Suzaku raised his gun to shoot, he instinctively followed wherever she moved to try to avoid. And Lelouch realized that at least half the blood on her was her own. Suzaku, using the Geass Lelouch had placed on him so long ago, couldn't miss.

Then he was in the garden, and it was of paramount importance that he keep her from this room. The obvious solution was to have another beaker of gaseous tetrodotoxin, but waiting for C.C. to arrive with the necessary ingredients would be foolish. Though Empress Tianzi didn't seem to be in immediate peril, there were only so many bullets in a gun, and D.D. was immortal.

That left a far less elegant approach. He looked around, ready to go back and rig up a few traps if necessary, when he took a closer look. He'd noticed before that Nunnally had changed the place to have more Japanese plants, even though it was still inherently European in design. But now he noticed something more, and wanted to thank his sister for loving Japan enough to try, without knowing enough of it to plan accordingly.

His gaze trailed along the paths. Several of them were hedged in by Japanese boxwood. Within were several colors of chrysanthemums and azaleas, creating bursts of color that were kept from overwhelming the eye by Japanese garden junipers. And then, along the edges of each walkway, specifically planted to make the place look more wild, were Japanese pieris shrubs, their pink and white flowers breaking the monotony of green left by the boxwoods.

And oh, all he needed was the tiniest spark, easily obtained via a lighter found in one dead man's pocket, and the place lit up in flames.

After all, the boxwood and pieris and even the azaleas were all highly flammable. Whoever had made the garden should have been fired.

The trees weren't as easily lit, and they burned slowly as the room heated and burned. Thankfully, the gases he had C.C. use were noncombustible. He rushed away from the flames and watched the smoke billow from the room before he closed the doors behind him. A flash fire would be even better; burn the woman as she attempted to run. All he needed to do then was make sure Suzaku and Nunnally stayed away; C.C. would survive if the worst should happen.

Finally, C.C. showed up, carrying the box though there had to little to nothing left within. She set it down when she saw him and put her hands on her hips. She looked pointedly toward the box, then back to him, and raised an eyebrow. He could only be thankful that she didn't talk. He could hear talking from within the room, and though he'd kept his ears open as much as possible for the worst possible scenario of D.D. trying to tell them abut Lelouch's and Suzaku's secrets, he only knew that their voices would carry back to D.D., thus destroying their element of surprise.

Though the fire may have also done that.

"He who watches over you will not slumber," (1) D.D. said, her voice echoing down the hall. There were no more sounds of gunshots, though the fire within the garden blazed. Though Lelouch had thought to rip the wires of the fire alarms in the garden off, he hadn't been able to hunt down the rest in time. And as he moved toward the room, they finally went off.

Beside the entrance, he watched as every human lifted his or her head to stare at nothing as if they could catch sight of the sound. Yet D.D. did nothing more than smile and tilt her head. "People protect what they love."

Lelouch frowned. All of this – the death and destruction, chasing after Suzaku and Nunnally and harming Tianzi – couldn't be simply to lure him out. Certainly, it could be a nice bonus, but it wasn't her main concern. No. She wanted Zero destroyed. At first it might have just been his life, but by now, she had to know that he was protected in some way. So that meant moving on to another plan. One that meant potentially discrediting Zero? Lelouch wouldn't allow it.

Suzaku's gaze narrowed at the sight where D.D. stood, while Xingke's gaze whipped around. But while Tianzi was still huddling on the floor, Nunnally was glaring forward. Even trapped on the ground, unable to move without her wheelchair, she looked fierce, strong. Lelouch's heart broke to see it, even as he smiled in pride. If only he could have let her remain a child.

"C.C. was your goal?"

Lelouch nearly sighed. Not only was Suzaku oblivious enough to actually believe that, he'd completely missed the 'he' in her first comment. Oh, well. It only helped Lelouch if the fool missed every single clue.

But D.D. was aware of his presence now for certain, and she turned the door. With one pale hand, she gestured to the destruction she'd caused, then to the few remaining survivors, and she smiled. "See the conquering hero comes! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!"

Nunnally gasped.

Lelouch grinned. He could hear C.C. take her place just behind him, knew she stood facing D.D. down. With the alarms blaring, he tilted his head and had C.C. hold out her own arms. An invitation. But as soon as D.D. started to move, she stopped. His grin widened. So, she had finally noticed – the smells of the gases rising in the air.

She covered her nose. "I would much prefer to suffer from the clean incision of an honest lancet than from a sweetened poison."

And as if it were nothing, she turned back to Suzaku – to Zero. Taking advantage, of course, of the fact that Lelouch could not dare speak, in case he faltered and was heard by the others. "Piety," she said, "requires us to honor truth above our friends." She stared at Suzaku. "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it. Where law ends, tyranny begins."

Lelouch tapped on C.C.'s leg with his foot, and she dropped her arms and slid into the room. C.C., seeming to understand his desires without him having to speak, simply stood just inside. Suzaku's gaze shimmered to her for a moment before returning to D.D.

Yet before Lelouch forced D.D. to act, Xingke spoke. "A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent." At D.D.'s look, he tilted his head. Though his arms were shaking sorely, he managed to pull them up in front of him again. Lelouch had seen and dismissed the sword, but he saw now that he shouldn't have. Xingke was no longer his ally. Still, he didn't try to attack anyone. Yet. "You speak, invisible woman, but you don't seem inclined to gain knowledge."

The distraction was more than C.C. needed, and she went to Nunnally's side and touched her shoulder. Nunnally jumped for a short second, stiffening, then immediately relaxed and grabbed Tianzi's hand. "C.C.'s here, right?" she asked, and D.D. narrowed her eyes. Lelouch tilted his own head and looked idly on the pale woman. Her lips were thinning. As he'd suspected; as soon as anyone's involved in the plot, they become enemies to her. And now her attention was turning to his sister.

Her second fatal mistake.

But Nunnally had become strong. And her strength, however much he wished she didn't have it, was necessary to him right now.

"If she's here, then..." And she looked at Tianzi.

Xingke grimaced, but he didn't waste any time. He moved and scooped up the injured Tianzi, baring his back and twisting his sword as he did so. Tianzi quickly helped, wrapping her arms and legs around him, though she flinched as she tightened her injured leg's grip. Nunnally held her head high and stared about two feet off from where D.D. stood. The cloying scent of the gases was becoming thicker. C.C. bent down and whispered, "away from the gardens," in Nunnally's ear. She nodded, just a bit, and reached out for Suzaku. Lelouch gritted his teeth through the lance of pain. He couldn't carry her out. He had to stay. And if it was to be anyone, it had to be Suzaku.

Zero's face was hidden by the mask, of course, but Lelouch didn't need to see Suzaku's face to know what he was feeling. His shoulders were too straight, his fingers clenched around his gun, useless though it now was, empty like D.D.'s had most likely been for quite a while, since the throats of the men in the hall had all been ripped open – D.D. making use of her bare hands, a thought that made Lelouch a bit uncomfortable. He didn't know if it was a strength associated with immortality, one which C.C. had yet to show him, or if it was simply a skill the woman possessed. While both were dangerous enough, the latter meant a weakness he hadn't accounted for.

But as he watched, Suzaku ignored the feelings of anger and frustration and took Nunnally's hand. "I should stay," he said, just as Lelouch had known he would.

"It's a fight between immortals," Nunnally said, and Suzaku, clad in Lelouch's old skin, took Nunnally by the shoulders and lifted her up until he could clutch her knees.

And when she was safely held in his arms, he looked toward the entrance – right at C.C., then toward the entrance, toward Lelouch, but off enough to show he didn't know where she was. He said nothing, but Lelouch knew – straight spine, chin high. A warning to stay away. A promise to harm if the warning were to be ignored.

Lelouch smiled and shot D.D.

The sound made everyone jump, and D.D. gasped. Xingke pulled up his sword, though he stayed back, Tianzi huddled against his chest. Suzaku stared at the entrance, having only seen the gun and Lelouch's arm, and he hesitated, just as Lelouch had known he would. And so Lelouch shot again, this time aiming for Suzaku's shoulder. Lelouch watched as Suzaku's eyes flashed red for an instant, and Zero moved, bending down and to the right, away from the shot. Suzaku's gloved hands curled around Nunnally, but he took the warning and hurried out. Just as Lelouch had known he would. Xingke, his lips thinner than every before, did the same. Lelouch hurried into the room beside it, barely slipping through before Suzaku raced past, his eyes darting around in search of Lelouch as he ran.

Only when the footsteps disappeared into the thickening fog did he step forward once more. D.D. clutched her chest, where Lelouch had shot, and glared at him. "The world has no room for cowards."

Lelouch raised the gun this time so that she could see it. He'd missed her chest, partly on purpose and partly because he wasn't a marksman like Suzaku. (2) C.C. gave him the thumbs up, and he finally replied. "You were trying to lure them into a trap. All those dead soldiers, and all so that you could take them outside to those bystanders. Trying to make your way to the gardens, I presume." Her eyes narrowed. Her grimace widened. And he wanted to laugh. "So obvious. Wanting to take Zero out into the open, force him to cover for the two girls. All so that you could get him outside and get his mask off. Even without your guns, you could do it, couldn't you? Just knock him unconscious, perhaps even kill him."

C.C. finally entered the room then, as the scent got so powerful D.D. And C.C. both wrinkled their noses. C.C.'s attempt to escape it nearly made him roll his eyes. "And yet," Lelouch continued, "you were always hoping I would show up. Because if you forced me to show myself, everything would be destroyed – or, in your eyes, all truths would be revealed." He lifted his head and pointed his gun, not toward D.D., but out into the hallway, where the gases were creating a nearly lavender fog. "But all people's beliefs are truths in their eyes. Every memory, every hope, every words spoken and action wrought – all these are lies, so long as one believes them to be. So watch now, as I create my own truth!"

And then he fired his last bullet.

* * *

><p>AN: /huffs/ There. /huffs/ … su .../huffs/ Suck it. /dies/

(1) Ah, the list. Here:

Bible  
>Jacques Yves Cousteau<br>Thomas Morell  
>Mark Twain<br>Aristotle  
>William Pitt<br>William Pitt  
>William Blake (Xingke's quote)<br>Robert Louis Stevenson

(2) Doesn't even kill Euphemia at point-blank range. For shame, Lelouch.

Also, allow me to note that the quote of 'my own personal truth' may be recognized by some as a quote from an 'in the next episode' in the first episodes of the second season. Lelouch reacts like this when remembering how Charles had altered his memory, saying that his memories were his own personal truth. When re-watching the show, I literally jolted in my seat hearing it. Not only did it mesh perfectly with my story, it told me I wasn't doing a horrible job relating Lelouch's emotions. It made me happy enough to tackle this thing once again, even though I still feel as if I'm failing many of these characters in my attempts to capture their essences.

I ask for my readers' patience as I continue battling this thing. No matter how long it takes, I WILL finish this. Somehow.


	8. His Own Strength

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Other note: Yes, I know Toudou entered the building. Yeah. It's like I'm writing the story myself or something.

Warning: I suck at chemistry.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Seven

His Own Strength

* * *

><p>"Truth might falter<br>Give up your vows  
>Update the aura<br>Of the shadowlit facade"

~ "Shadowlit Facade," Dark Tranquility

* * *

><p>He was being used.<p>

It hit him, as he listened to Nunnally's orders to avoid the garden, even though he'd already turned away from it – the order to live, he realized, and had looked back and seen smoke billowing under the door. Fire. Fire, and Nunnally had known. Through will alone, he managed to keep from digging his fingers into Nunnally's skin.

She knew. She had known, somehow. Had C.C. spoken to her? Had she known of everything that would happen before it did?

But no, that wasn't it. Because Nunnally would never harm someone else, not ever. Not for anything.

Yet he'd thought the same of Lelouch, hadn't he?

But Nunnally kept looking back, even though they'd already left that last hallway behind, leaving C.C. to battle it out with the white-haired immortal woman. Suzaku couldn't care less what happened to either woman, but Nunnally obviously did. And her worry, no matter that she tried to hide it and send Empress Tianzi reassuring looks, was plain for Suzaku to see. So no, she hadn't been a part of the plan. At least not until D.D. had turned her attention to C.C. in that room.

And, by using Nunnally to get him out of that room, he was being used.

He might not have ever noticed it, except he recognized the feel of it. The knowledge of being used to the bitter end, of not really having the chance to make his own decisions – allowing Lelouch to continue, joining him, helping him, all for the sake of getting to end Lelouch's life, all to bring peace. And when he did take Lelouch's life, for it to be on Lelouch's terms and not his own – to give his very future for Lelouch's own cause...

Manipulation. It reeked. It stank of betrayal and lack of trust.

If C.C. wanted him gone, then he needed to stay.

He barely made it out the door before he turned to Xingke. "I must return," he said, and Xingke stopped short. He couldn't read the man's eyes, but Xingke was looking him up and down, from his mask to his shoulders to his arms to the cape, pulled away from his body for once as he held Nunnally tight in his grip, and then slowly back up again. The man was positively glaring when he regarded the mask once more. "What is happening within cannot be allowed to leave that room."

He meant that it was dangerous, that Empress Tianzi had been hurt, which couldn't happen again. But he wasn't brilliant like Lelouch, and he couldn't find the right words. And Xingke seemed even angrier. Suzaku laid Nunnally down on the ground outside, even as guards came near. But as he watched, Kallen stood before them, holding her hand out. It was shaking. "Stay back," she said, and then turned to Suzaku – to Zero. "I will watch over her," she said, cutting off anything Xingke may have wanted to speak. "Go."

Suzaku nearly tipped his head like a fool. Why was Kallen even here? Hadn't she been told to return to school?

But Kallen was strong, and she was loyal to Zero. He would have to trust Nunnally's safety to her. "If any harm comes to her, I will hold you personally responsible."

Kallen lifted her chin and glared. "I know her importance, Zero."

Suzaku wasn't sure how to take that, but he would worry about it later. He brushed past Xingke, taking advantage of the man's hold on Tianzi to push through. Xingke hissed. "We will discuss this," the man said, but Suzaku couldn't care.

That woman. As soon as he was out of eyesight, he raced back through the halls, stepping between corpses without thinking. That woman, for whatever reason, had wanted him gone and out of the way. To discuss secrets? To continue a plan of Lelouch's he'd been kept unaware of? Or to simply leave because he was useless?

The idea that he was considered useless, even now, swept away by Lelouch when the man was no longer around for Suzaku to call him out on it–

No. He wouldn't allow it.

* * *

><p>Kallen searched young Nunnally for injury as Xingke abandoned his post and rushed to the officers still holding back the thinning populous. She saw ambulances waiting just beyond the line of spectators, and Xingke and Empress Tianzi were both rushed into one. The doors had hardly closed before the vehicle sped off.<p>

If Kallen pulled herself away from her thoughts, she could see that two more ambulances waited, and more seemed to be on their way, unless the sirens were for the fire.

The fire.

She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to Nunnally. "Do you need an ambulance, too?" she asked.

Nunnally, however, simply shook her head. "No." And she turned back toward the estate.

The estate.

Kallen held her breath until she was certain she wouldn't hyperventilate. The crowd was thinning more and more as she watched, the police finally pulling out their cuffs and threatening people with obstruction. It made the surroundings bleak; only the lawn, torn to dirt by the stamping herds of policemen and onlookers, the building broken and blaring behind them, and the deserted street far beyond.

The fire had started on its own.

While C.C. had gone right, Kallen had gone right, knowing – believing she knew – that C.C. would merely set up a trap and return to where Kallen headed. So she'd gone left, ready to help Toudou protect Zero, only to see the garden door open on its own. And when she'd snuck behind, trying to catch the other immortal unaware, she'd seen Zero shooting at nothing – and blood splattering the wall.

Of course she'd thought the white-haired woman must have an accomplice, but when the garden had been put to flames and Kallen had prepared to attack, C.C. had come through. There had been no fighting as she'd turned, most certainly meeting the immortal who had started the fire. And as Kallen watched from the crevice, she'd heard a woman's voice she didn't recognize talking about a man acting as a hero.

And... and...

_The writing_.

She shook her head. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. She'd watched... she'd seen... Lelouch hadn't survived.

"Are you all right?"

Kallen jerked in place and turned. Nunnally was watching her with furrowed brows, even as she sat in the open, unable to move. "Oh!" And Kallen knelt beside her. "I'm so sorry. I should get you to an ambulance, if only to get you away from prying eyes." She looked around, but it seemed the place really was on lockdown. The sirens were blaring louder, and Kallen was now certain they were for the fire.

While the police cordoned the area off, reporters could still slip through the cracks. So thought Nunnally took another glace back, she didn't protest as Kallen picked her up. She was heavier than Kallen had expected, but that was because she thought the girl to be a waif. She wasn't, though, and Kallen had to adjust.

The silence between them was absolute. Kallen could think of nothing to break it as she made her way to the ambulance. Nunnally was Lelouch's sister, and had once been her friend. But when things had gone south and Kallen and Nunnally had ended up on different sides, Kallen had been torn between the old friendship, Lelouch's feelings for his sister, and the obstacle she had become. Knowing that Nunnally had been on the Damocles, pressing the button for the FLEIJA to be launched, made fury bubble up anew. Yet Lelouch's all-encompassing love for his sister, the kind girl Kallen herself had once known, made the fury cool to the point where it felt like ice against her skin. Nunnally had gotten caught up in the sin of war, just as Kallen had. Just as Lelouch had. And they'd all become monsters.

She hadn't seen it in time with Lelouch. She'd been blinded by her own emotions, and she hadn't tried to see the truth. This time she would. She would stand by Nunnally and Zero. She wouldn't turn away.

So when she finally got Nunnally into the ambulance, she placed the girl down on the stretcher and stepped back to let the doctors work only after she made a point of holding her gun.

So the fire was started by someone else, someone who may or may not have been Le... the previous Zero. It didn't matter. She clenched her fingers around her gun, took a deep breath, and checked the perimeter outside the ambulance. It didn't matter. If she stood strong in her beliefs, if she met each decision with the knowledge of what she should do, then she wouldn't have any regrets.

But she'd done that before, and she had regrets.

No. Only one regret. To have failed the person who had saved the world.

So. So she wouldn't fail him. This time, for sure, she wouldn't fail.

* * *

><p>Toudou's first job had been to secure Zero and Nunnally. His second was to secure their guests. His third was to deal with the immortal woman who had hunted down Zero and harmed Chiba.<p>

Yet when he'd entered the building, the first thing he'd noticed was the shouting. Not the smell, or the sight of bodies, or even the rushing feet as men pounded past the lobby into the right hall. No, he'd heard the shouting, and beneath that, like a bell chiming: the call of a cat.

He did not care enough about the life of an innocent animal to forsake his duties. But the cat had then rounded the corner, seen him, and taken off. And though he'd recognized it as Suzaku's cat – a foolish sentiment the boy should have gotten rid of, but may have been too weak – or lonely – to do so – it wasn't the reason he'd stopped still and let the chaos around him go unanswered.

It was because, as he'd watched, the cat had seen him, _then looked behind him,_ and had then taken off. And so he'd reacted instinctively, turning down the hallway the cat had come from and preparing to attack whoever came from behind. Though it could have been Kallen, Toudou did not believe that to be the case. She was set on meeting with C.C. in order to understand what she had been excluded from. And Toudou had understood, because even more than gaining information on the war between the immortals, they both had penances to make.

But as he waited, he heard no footsteps, saw no encroaching target. Yet Arthur was behind him, hissing horribly, and running off again. And as Toudou watched, the lobby door swung silently open, then silently shut. _C.C._, he thought, and wondered if Kallen had missed her. He was prepared to have to confront her in order to get to Zero in time, but he waited, believing Kallen wouldn't miss the woman, even if she was invisible. The amount of people outside meant she would have to show herself in some way, and Kallen would have recognized it.

But she hadn't, and as he prepared to leave, he saw a pen hover in the air. And as he watched, the pen dipped down to a corner of the lobby and scratched in a short, staccato rhythm.

And then the pen hovered in the air again, and Toudou crept away as two men raced past, carrying a dead man in their arms. He heard the sounds of battle from behind him as he moved. He could go to them, try to fight off the impossible. But his duty was to protect Zero, and while the rest of the men deserved to live, as well, they, too, understood. They, too, had chosen to give their lives to the cause.

But he hesitated. And when the pen moved to another side of the wall, he stayed. And when it moved to the right – away from the battle – Toudou hid and watched its progress. Kallen never came.

And then, before he hurried off to Zero's side, he walked over to the wall and slid his gaze down it.

For he who had stood by that man's side, watched him lay out strategies so complex and complete as to leave a man in awe, the small scratches on the wall could only be of his making.

And he understood, in that instant, everything that Zero had sacrificed.

While he had prepared for death, Lelouch had prepared for eternal life. Leaving Zero as a symbol, leaving Nunnally as his voice, and now, finally, the missing piece; himself as eternal protector. Immortals never knew death. He would watch forever, sitting on the sidelines, helping without ever being known to exist. And Toudou felt shame. What had he forsaken in his quest for peace? His honor? His pride? Here was a man who had given everything. Even his mortal life.

Even now, when Lelouch was supposed to be dead, he left nothing to chance – nothing to those who had failed to follow him. He did not trust them to carry out his mission. The only ones who received such an honor were Kururugi Suzaku and Lady Nunnally. Toudou, in turning his back on Zero, had lost Zero's favor.

It was not his duty to protect Zero. The job was Lelouch's alone to carry out.

Lelouch's plan had been absolute. It left no room for errors – or for those uninvolved to interfere. Which meant that Toudou, of his own volition, became an outsider on the workings of that man's mind. No longer did he stand by Zero's side and watch the majesty of his mind at work. Now he was an intruder.

As an intruder, what was he supposed to do that would not interfere with Zero's plan?

And so he stayed back, held his ground, and helped some men escape before they died. To do more would mean to fight against Zero, and he had sworn to never make such a mistake again. All he could do was hope that his efforts would be rewarded with some sort of forgiveness.

At least now the possibility of forgiveness existed.

* * *

><p>"Kaki narase sonzai wo<br>Koko ni iru to  
>Hibike ano akatsuki no sora ni"<p>

("Strum the tune of your existence  
>And sing that you are here<br>Let it run out into the red moonlit sky")

~ "Re:member," Flow

* * *

><p>An explosion threw Suzaku to the ground as he neared the last hall. Of course his fall was broken by bodies, but that only made it harder for him to get his feet on solid footing to stand back up.<p>

The entire building had changed over the few minutes he'd been gone. There was smoke so thick he could hardly see, and smells that made his nose wrinkle and his legs slow. He held his breath as he walked down the hall. The fire in the garden was already spreading to the hall, and the sprinkler system turned on just as he made it to the room.

Though he couldn't see anyone in the hall, there was a tension in the air that couldn't be missed. No one had moved yet. He took a deep, shallow breath as he continued forward. The air really was thick with chemicals he couldn't name. D.D.'s doing, or C.C.'s? Who was the intended victim?

The idea that all of this destruction was caused solely to call C.C. out from hiding didn't sit right to him. Not only did C.C. have an ally who would be able to help her, it just didn't seem right. He wasn't a strategist, but he was a warrior. And that wasn't a smart way to go about getting someone to come. And she had been hurt several times. Even though they couldn't see her, they could simply shot every corner of the room and hit something. The only problem was that they never knew if they hit her, or when, or where she'd fallen. And since she was immortal, she would always get back up and attack again. And so they'd been forced to retreat, bit by bit, until they were backed into a corner, Empress Tianzi slowly bleeding out from the wound Suzaku hadn't been able to prevent.

But when they'd backed away from the lobby entrance, they'd done so only because it had felt as if they'd been herded toward it. Xingke had been the one to notice it, and to point it out, and in order to avoid the trap, they'd backed away.

And the woman had become a monster.

But now the bodies were burning, filling the air with the stench of broiling flesh, choking out the smells of chemicals and compounds. Something crashed inside the room, and he hurried forward. He thought he heard someone curse, and the sound jolted down his spine. Then there was a hissing noise – a low voice – and then C.C. was exiting the room. She held up her hand as if to stop him from entering, and he remembered how her touch had shown him impossible things, souls screaming and earths shattering and reforming anew. He instinctively stepped back. The movement made C.C.'s face slip from annoyed to amused. "You should leave."

"No." With the mask, his determination became more authoritative, and he had another moment of ephemeral respect for Lelouch's plot. "I'm staying."

C.C. looked behind her, then toward him once more. "You can't go in."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"To protect my ally," she said, tilting her head to the continued sounds coming from within the room, worse now than a moment ago. As if he'd interrupted something important. "I know you want to kill me. I don't care." She flipped her hair back as if she really couldn't care less about anything happening. Always that haughty indifference, that separation of herself from the world. Was it that cruel disengagement that had corrupted Lelouch? "But my ally and I have something to do before you start bleeding us."

Her ally. Her ally. Her ally. Just who was it that Lelouch had let live?

Someone, perhaps, that he had trusted? But if there had been nothing else Lelouch had said that Suzaku had believed, it was that Lelouch had hated Geass. He'd killed children in order to wipe Geass from the earth. He'd seen the evidence, when he'd shown his skepticism, and Lelouch was always a man more of actions than words. Words spoken from those lips couldn't be trusted. But actions.

Actions he could trust.

So if C.C. had an ally, then it was one she'd hidden from Lelouch, as well. And that meant that Lelouch would have killed the immortal if he'd been granted the opportunity. It was only right that Suzaku finish what Lelouch started. After all, he'd taken the position Lelouch had failed in – became Zero, a hero of justice, because Lelouch was not what Zero needed to be.

_But he had been_, a dark voice thought, and Suzaku scowled. "I will kill your friend. And you. But D.D. will be the first."

His words actually made the woman smirk. "Did you do as I asked?"

He scowled. The crane had given him coordinates, but nothing else. "I have men gathering the supplies."

She sighed. "Well, he was expecting that sort of eventuality, I'm sure."

And the exasperated huff reminded him once again of Lelouch. The man would be shaking his head at the two of them, telling them to hurry up. His brows would be furrowed. Suzaku could almost see it himself. He wished the gas was Lelouch's, that the reason Suzaku's limbs were beginning to freeze up was because Lelouch had planned for it. If it was Lelouch's plan, it would work. His plans always worked, because he planned for everything.

And Suzaku was gasping again, nearly falling to his knees as that false Lelouch turned to him, eyes hooded, and said he needed Suzaku to go, to leave the building, for god's sake, or else he would just be in the way. "I need you with Nunnally," he would say, and Suzaku would glare stubbornly from within Zero's mask. His chest would be tight, so tight, and he would be angry. Furious. He would hear the woman inside the room screaming, and C.C. would fly back into the hall–

"Back away, idiot!"

Suzaku stumbled over his own feet, then over a corpse, and then over his cape. He fell gracelessly. Yet he stayed there, even though Zero had to look a fool and there was a battle raging just a few meters away. He could hardly see through his mask, and he raised a hand as if to fix the thing. It was only after he touched the rounded surface that he realized he was crying. "What was that?" he asked. He could still see it. Lelouch looking at him like that – like Suzaku was something worth protecting. And it had felt so true, so _right_, that losing it felt worse than death. "What the hell was that?!"

But as he looked up, C.C. slid further and further away from him, staring at her own hands, even as the fire licked at her back and at the bodies below her feet. "Eternity," she said, and though his vision blurred, he could see her hands tremble. "Eternity has been broken."

Beyond her, D.D. stumbled out of the room, one hand over her nose and mouth and the other out before her to catch herself on the hallway wall. She turned back to the room and opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was lost beneath a sudden rage of coughs. She turned, her eyes narrowing, and headed back toward the gardens and around the edge of the hall. Suzaku struggled to get his feet underneath him.

"Stay there!" C.C. shouted, holding out her hand once more, but this time as if to prevent Suzaku from hurting her. "You can't be near us. Something's wrong – our eternities have been damaged."

"What do you mean?"

But C.C. only shook her head. "I don't know. I don't understand it myself. But you have to get away. If you come near, reality will tear – it's as if a crack has already formed."

To Suzaku, it sounded like an excuse to make him leave. D.D. was hunkering underneath the smoke, to the point where Suzaku noticed that the filter in the mask was actually helping to keep the air he breathed fairly clean. Even C.C. started wrinkling her nose. Her knees buckled. "Go," she said. "You're in the way!"

D.D. turned to them, her ice blue eyes digging into Suzaku. She swung drunkenly toward them.

"This'll have to do," C.C. said, and she hurried toward Suzaku. "Run, idiot!" And as he followed her lead, D.D. following after, she called out, "we're leaving!"

Her partner. Ally. The one she'd hidden from Lelouch. Suzaku turned, as well, trying to see who it was, but C.C.'s hair covered his vision.

"I don't know which way to go," C.C. said, and then something banged beside him. He jumped, but his Geass didn't activate, not once, and as he turned around again, he saw D.D. turning back the way they'd come. Suzaku stopped and turned, as well. "Stop it!" she snapped, and then his Geass _did activate, _just in time to get him to move away from her hand. She pulled it back when e flinched away, nearly snarling as she did. "We're trying to take care of this problem right now. It's no time for you to be getting in the way!"

_Getting in the way._

"What do you mean, get in the way?!" Even Lelouch had admitted that he couldn't finish his plan without Suzaku. When C.C. could have put on that outfit – when anyone would have done, when anyone could have taken up the call. Only Suzaku. Only Suzaku could be his knight. Only Suzaku could be his sword.

"Suzaku, I need you to go!"

And Suzaku found himself backing away again, as an image of Lelouch flashed before his eyes. He was scowling now, one hand shooing Suzaku off. "I need her to tail me. Now _move! You're in the way!"_

And Suzaku jerked, because though the picture of Lelouch seemed almost like a hologram, the voice was real, as if choked by smoke. And as Suzaku wheezed in a chemical-hazed breath, he turned and ran. C.C. stayed behind.

* * *

><p>Lelouch couldn't wait anymore. He finally gave up and spoke, knowing his words might actually make Suzaku freeze instead of run. Yet he hoped the old soldier, follow-the-order-you're-given personality trait might yet remain.<p>

And when he heard feet retreating from the hall, he launched himself through the smoke at D.D.

The woman met him, easily kicking him down as he attacked. But that was fine. He had to adjust his fall to account for the bodies burning beneath him; the fire was so strong he found his lungs constricting. Suzaku, that ridiculous fool, probably hadn't even had the mind to notice. The mask would filter the worst of it, and Lelouch wouldn't be surprised to find the man hadn't even noticed the thick black smoke turning the room into a horror hall of shadows and darkness. The bodies on the floor seemed to writhe as their clothes and skin were peeled into ash by the blaze. The scent choked out the smells of the gases – even better for him; easier to lay out his trap – and the garden had become a bomb waiting to explode. The hall was the last place they should have been at the moment, but Suzaku's presence pushed the issue.

The fool had nearly ruined everything.

He only hoped Suzaku hadn't recognized his voice, or at the very least, considered it some sort of illusion.

Now all he could do was run and hope the traps still sat where he'd planned, or else he really would hunt Suzaku down and strangle him.

First, back the way he'd come. Suzaku was gone, but Lelouch couldn't know through the crackling flames if he was gone enough. It would have to do; Lelouch had already given Suzaku his voice. If it was to bring this woman to an end, he would simply have to deal with the consequences.

D.D. raged behind him, and he felt her nearness before he could hear her footsteps. The smoke clung thick to his throat, too thick to breathe through. But he kept going, heedless of it, dragging C.C. with him when she continued to stand frozen like a fool in the middle of the hall. "Go," he said, his voice raspy from the smoke. "Now."

And thank everything, she did.

The way he'd come included several sitting rooms, many connected, and Lelouch swung into one of them, hacking up a lung as he did. The air here was still a bit sweet, since the door had been closed, and the knob had thankfully only been warm, not scalding hot. And so he was able to run straight through to the next room, this time deliberately leaving the doors open. D.D. slid inside with him, her hair gray with soot and ash, her eyes wild.

"Fight on, brave knights!" she shouted, and he turned to look at her. "Man dies, but glory lives! Fight on; death is better than defeat!"

Lelouch smiled. "Is it? That's rather alarmingly stupid, isn't it?" He bit his tongue to keep from coughing again. "Defeat is just a way to learn how to win. If you die, then everything becomes pointless."

He could smell the toxins, and it seemed D.D. had finally taken notice, as well. She tried to cover her mouth. "Trickery and treachery are the practices of fools who have not the wits enough to be honest!"

Lelouch laughed at that and spread his arms. "Well, then I am the King of Fools! Who has tricked more than I? Who has betrayed more than I? And who else has claimed the world his, and remade it for himself?" Lelouch lifted his chin and laughed again, deliberately mocking. "You think you can steal my crown? Then come show me what your honesty can do!"

D.D. ran toward him. Lelouch didn't try to dodge, even though he was even more wary of the woman's hands now than he'd been when they'd first faced one another. She grabbed for his throat, wrapped those tiny hands around it, and squeezed. "The devil is compromise," she said, and bore him to the ground.

Lelouch let her, let her dig her nails into his skin until he bled, and watched, breath stolen, as she gasped over him, those pale eyes watching his. Waiting.

Lelouch waited until his body was bucking beneath her, until his hands wrapped around her wrists of their own volition, to fight back. It wouldn't do to fall fully unconscious and be dragged outside, where, without being able to control his abilities, he would be visible to all and sundry. And so, with her helpfully keeping him from breathing too much air, he touched her throat with two fingers. Her pulse pounded beneath the skin.

And so he took his gun and jammed it into her solar plexus.

She gasped, and her grip loosened, and he hit her wrists with the gun until she let go and he could scrabble out from underneath her. He held his breath as he made for the door and got out into the hall again.

The hall was filled to the brim with smoke, and when he finally gave in and gasped, his throat burning, he hacked into a coughing fit to rival a chain smoker. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his throat.

It had been too long. At first, the fire had been the perfect way to keep D.D. away from that exit and toward his predetermined route. But with Suzaku's presence keeping him from making his false escape earlier, the smoke had become nothing but a detriment.

He stayed on the floor, able to breathe a bit easier. But it was so _hot_, stiflingly so, until his throat, healing from D.D.'s touch already, seemed to blister with every breath. And though he'd been helpfully kept from breathing in too many of the fumes in the previous room, the poison had still entered his veins enough to slow him down. His vision was starting to blur.

But it was almost done.

The smoke in front of him was fake, and D.D., with the real fire behind her, wouldn't question it. All he needed to do was get out.

So he did; went straight into the thick of the smoke and crawled until he reached the far wall. He heard D.D. stumbling from the room, hacking and sputtering as she crashed into the wall once, then again. The poison was messing with her far more than him, all because she'd let her rush of battle get to her. The poison would make it even harder for her to follow her own movements. It would create shadows where there was only smoke, substance where there was only air. Almost, he laughed. But it wouldn't do to ruin his plan by thoughts of preemptive victory, and he waited a tense minute before he pulled himself up.

His lungs heaved in his chest as he stuck his head in the thick of the smoke again, and the heat had him sweating. He shivered and grappled with the wall until he found a window. Then it was a blind search for the locks, the smoke blinding him, making his eyes water.

And suddenly, finally, he felt the knob of the release beneath his fingers, he yanked.

Fresh air whooshed into his face, and it was so cool and beautiful he found he couldn't breathe it in. Then the smoke billowed out, and Lelouch fought to join it. The window was small, thin, slim enough for Nunnally or Tianzi to slip through without issue, but not enough for Suzaku. Lelouch stuck his head through, caring only, in that moment, about air. And once he had it, he coughed miserably, his entire body bent to the task of simply breathing, until he stuffed his shoulders through and squirmed madly, still gulping up each breath he could. The sides of the sill scraped at his skin, but the fire was fine, compared to the burning hollow in his throat. He was hacking up his lungs when he finally managed to inch his shoulders through, and he fell headfirst through the window, his hips getting scraped raw as his momentum pulled them straight through the sill. He nearly broke his neck falling the way he did.

He gave himself only one moment, just enough for his passageway to open up enough for him to breathe without coughing all over again, and then he pulled himself to his feet. The world spun, just for an instant, and then righted itself. He breathed gustily, as if he could expel the poison with an exhale, and then he trailed a hand along the wall as he made his way to the front of the building. By now, the bystanders will have been cleared out. With both Nunnally and Zero outside, no one would wish to enter the building. He could, if he strained his ears, hear water being poured onto the garden. If there was still a crowd, it would be around there.

He was unsurprised to find himself correct, at least for the most part; while Nunnally remained in the front, guarded by Zero – something he'd expected, even though Suzaku had inhaled far too much smoke and toxins, he also found Kallen there, turning several Black Knights away from the scene. Shinichiro seemed to be the one giving her the most trouble, demanding he stand by Zero, since he wasn't feeling well – so Suzaku had been effected enough to let Zero's perfect demeanor slip. Lelouch would forgive him this once, since he'd been breathing in neurotoxins and smoke for several minutes.

All that was left now was to wait.

C.C. stood next to Nunnally, silent guard to her well-being, but when she caught sight of Lelouch, she left Nunnally's side to come to his. "Just what have you planned?"

Lelouch grinned and nodded toward the building. "Through every hall, I had you lace the air with a neurotoxin designed to paralyze the body. None of us will die from it, unlike humans," he said, trying not to think of Suzaku's endless stupidity, "but it will still keep us from moving. With her responses slowed, she wouldn't be able to fight me properly. It would take her time to take me down. Enough for me to lead her to a room and have her breathe in poisons." After, of course, infuriating her enough to make her try to take his life without destroying the evidence of who he was. Unconscious, he wouldn't be able to cloak his existence. It took so much effort as it was that he often feel into a quick, dreamless sleep when he went to rest. "After she was poisoned, I could lead her on a trail through the smoke to the lobby, then past it to the emergency exit found within the meeting room."

C.C. only hummed. "So? Why lead her to the exit?"

Lelouch smiled. "Do you remember what I had you place in there?"

She shook her head.

"Attempting to get through the exit would lead to an explosion," he said, eying Zero as he leaned, just a bit, onto the side of an ambulance. Nunnally sat in the back, her eyes steely as she watched the Black Knights divvy up responsibilities. From somewhere to the right of the building, Toudou stepped forth, and Shinichiro jumped a mile high. "She'll see this, even poisoned, and will try to turn around."

Another hum, this time betraying a hint of interest. "And then?"

Lelouch chuckled. "She'll drown."

* * *

><p>The list:<p>

Walter Scott  
>Benjamin Franklin<br>Henrik Ibsen


	9. His Own Truth

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Warning: I suck at chemistry.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Eight

His Own Truth

* * *

><p>"Illusion never changed<br>Into something real  
>I'm wide awake and I can see<br>The perfect sky is torn"

~ "Torn," Natalie Imbruglia

* * *

><p>At first, she wouldn't even notice it.<p>

The smoke would be to blame . Her body would heat, she would cough, her limbs would shake as if to flee – natural. And she had gotten a whiff of the poison as he'd entered, like he'd hoped. And so the immortal would cover her mouth and think, _poison_, and she would label away the weakness.

Then, much later, the chasing. After breathing in the fumes for so long, it would be of no surprise when, as she enters another room where the chemicals are smelling up the place, she would get blurry vision, her limbs would grow heavy, and she would have shortness of breath. All of it, of course, helpfully exacerbated by the smoke. The heat.

And then the running. At first thinking Lelouch was only a bit ahead, she would struggle forward, her heart rate accelerated, the smoke clogging her throat. And through it all, she would be too disoriented to notice the lack of heat in the smoke. It would hit her, near the lobby, that she hadn't seen Lelouch. That he must have escaped. And she would wonder where an escape was, when Lelouch wouldn't dare be seen by others, would try to avoid them – and she would think of the meeting room. A room made to house an emergency escape, should the building be attacked. It was why she'd chased them so quickly past the lobby, down the hall.

And so she would head there, not knowing, not knowing. Until she found the trap lying there, the chemical bomb waiting for her to set it off, and she would know Lelouch couldn't have set it up while crawling through the smoke.

That would be when she would notice it.

It would be too late, of course. C.C. had gone through and placed everything to Lelouch's specifications at least an hour before, and all that time, she would have been breathing it in. More than Suzaku, with his mask's filters. More than C.C., who Lelouch had ordered to leave. And even more than Lelouch, though he, too, would be in danger; a price he was willing to pay.

And she would notice that the smoke wasn't really smoke, that, if anything, it was cool on her skin.

Cool... and wet.

And with the poisons ruining her system, with the neurotoxins slowing her down, she would attempt to race to the lobby exit – to any exit – and her racing heart, beating even faster than before, would pump the poisons through her system.

She would fall. Paralyzed, she wouldn't be able to get up.

And the water vapor she'd been breathing in for hours would churn in her lungs, more and more, as she fought to move in an air filled equally with those paralyzing poisons, and she wouldn't be able to escape.

An eternal drowning, right there in the meeting room. All because she tried to run too fast.

Lelouch waited. At the end of the hour, as firefighters tried to dowse the flames – adding only more water in a place that needed no help on that score – Kallen hurried Zero and Nunnally away. Shinichiro went, as well, declaring his intent to protect Zero to every corner of the country. Most Black Knights followed.

Only one remained. Chiba. Staring anxiously into the building, then back at the firefighters, then back into the building.

And so he sighed. "It seems someone has yet to come out."

C.C. looked at Chiba, seeming to steel herself to run into the burning building, and sighed with him. "Will this ruin the plan?"

Lelouch took a deep breath. He didn't cough. "No. She won't be moving for a while. But we'll need to..." Then he stopped and watched as, from the front door, Toudou emerged. He was covered in soot and coughing horribly, one man over his shoulder, as Chiba raced to his side. A couple of firemen hurried over, as well, instructing Toudou to bend over, wrapping a blanket around him, pulling him and the unconscious soldier gently to the final awaiting ambulance. Lelouch could already hear more sirens wailing. Back-up ambulances for what few may have survived the battle and the fire.

Lelouch turned to C.C. "Warn them about the drowning," he said, and she cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?"

He smirked. "Can you not handle them?"

She looked to Toudou and Chiba, then smirked, as well. She shimmered into sight. "You!" she called.

As one, every person turned, knight and foreman alike. While the firemen came to stop her progress, perhaps noticing the soot on her, as well, Toudou stood straight. "You're here," he said, and began coughing all over again.

"Are you coughing because of smoke inhalation or drowning?" she asked, and tilted her head. Lelouch nearly applauded the calm curiosity in her voice.

"Drowning, probably," he answered, and both she and Lelouch stilled. "Sorry?" she said, and Chiba looked at him, then back at C.C. She started to draw her gun.

Toudou put a hand in front of her, effectively stilling her movements. "Don't," he ordered, and Chiba's face contorted into a mess of wide eyes, pursed lips, and furrowed brows. "I stayed until the end," he said, speaking once more to C.C. "And saw."

Lelouch jerked back. Though the man was obviously finished speaking, his intent was clear. He'd seen something. Lelouch? No. But if the man had gone in, looked around – the notes. But Lelouch hadn't been able to help it, not with D.D. attacking at just that moment, before he'd had time to leave his little gifts within the building. So Toudou had seen. Lelouch tensed.

"From the sound of it," Toudou said, "she seemed to enter the meeting room."

C.C. nodded. "Good."

Toudou seemed unsurprised by the announcement. He simply bowed his head. But then, as he raised it once more, he looked around, staring at nothing in particular, his brow slightly furrowed. Frown lines gripped the edges of his lips.

Ah. Lelouch would have to speak with him.

"You should head to the hospital," C.C. said. "Get your lungs looked at." Toudou nodded and turned to the men tending him and his rescue. The doors closed on them, Chiba quickly taking her place beside Toudou in the back of the ambulance.

Lelouch watched as Toudou was taken away, then looked around. The firefighters remained, and a few stragglers the police were even now sending away. They were as free as they were going to be. He turned to C.C. "I need you to go to the docks. I have no doubt Zero has failed to consider subtlety for this venture."

C.C. inclined her head. "We'll have to leave by boat. Zero will no doubt join us."

Lelouch grinned. "Don't worry. That's what Schneizel is for." And he walked toward the entrance of the building as if he still owned it, though he kept himself carefully concealed.

She just huffed and left to follow his order.

* * *

><p>It had always been Nunnally's habit to trust. She'd grown up in a household where she was considered safe – well, where she'd thought herself safe. And her brother had always been very protective of her, and had done everything for her. She had never thought to question it, to think on how willingly blind she'd been to that which happened around her. Her big brother would just take care of it.<p>

She'd thought, when speaking with Schneizel and firing the FLEIJA while onboard the Damocles, that she'd taken on the burden she'd tossed off before. She'd become the monster her brother had, in order to do that which he had failed to do: bring peace. But she'd been naïve, as always, trusting Schneizel to keep to his promises of not hurting anyone, trusting those around her to fight while she sat prettily in an ivory tower, ordering the destruction of others. And all the time her brother had bled and killed on the battlefield, his eyes wide open. She'd followed in his shadow, in his footsteps, right up to the very end. And for what? To kneel, staring into despair, her brother's eyes drifting shut, his secrets bombarding her mind. And while she'd thought only of her own happiness, of the peace she wanted, he had been thinking of her.

It was only as his fingers grew cold in her grasp that she'd understood what sacrifice truly meant. What burdens really were. He had thought the same way as she. Yet his actions hadn't been fed by revenge or by a desire to rectify another's mistakes. While she felt proud of him, she also felt she'd failed something inside herself. Not because she hadn't taken up the charge, because she had. Not because she hadn't loved enough to become a monster, because she had. But because she'd lost her faith in the person who she should have known better than anyone else.

The burdens he'd taken on had been hers from the start. When she'd lost her eyesight and her ability to move, Lelouch had been her eyes and her legs. When she'd been unconscious and struggling to live, back when the attack first happened, Lelouch had gone to their father and spoken for her. And without thinking, she had laid her desires at his feet, even knowing as she had that he would do anything for her. And yet she'd been surprised to find what he would become in order to build such a world?

It had all been so confusing in her mind when she had first set about trying to find just how she should feel, how she should have felt. She'd studied it, over and over again, from the very start: when things had changed from being familial and safe to being something far different. She'd always thought she should have seen it somehow. The switch from being her brother to being Zero. But there had never been a change. Lelouch had always been Lelouch: the brother who loved her; the friend whose loyalty never wavered; the man who acted cruel and distant yet always loved far, far too much.

It wasn't necessarily that she'd failed her brother. Her every action had been for peace, for happiness, and she believed he understood that. Her brother had always understood her.

No, it wasn't that she'd failed him, per se. It was that she'd lacked the fundamental trust in those she loved, and the trust in herself to recognize that the love she gave, she gave to those who deserved it.

So of course she still loved Suzaku. He was her second older brother, the one with all the openness that her other brother lacked. While Lelouch was all head, Suzaku was all heart. Except when it came to love – then Lelouch took all the heart and Suzaku all the head. It had always meant butting heads when they'd been younger, she thought, smiling as the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Suzaku – Zero – and Kallen both by her side.

But beyond Suzaku, there were others whom she could trust. Kallen, a woman her brother had given his trust to, a woman who had been Nunnally's friend before she'd pulled away the veil she'd willingly placed over her friends' eyes. And Rivalz, though he'd gone on a motorcycle trip around Japan. And Milly, a bigshot reporter already.

And C.C.

It wasn't just because the woman was trusted by her brother, though of course she recognized the bias within herself to trust those her brother trusted. She'd also gotten along well with C.C. before she'd known who she was. She'd wanted to, of course, since she'd thought C.C. was her brother's girlfriend, but the truth was that she'd never had to put in any effort. C.C. was like another sister, like a more jaded Euphemia.

She'd chosen to like C.C. before she'd ever learned of Geass or hidden identities. And so she chose to trust the odd immortal. She'd told Suzaku to stay clear of the garden. She believed C.C. would help her brother get rid of the threat of the other immortal.

And when C.C. showed up shortly after they arrived, not bothering to hide herself from either Zero or Kallen, she only smiled and waved away the defensive antics of her bodyguards. "C.C. It's good to see you again."

The woman inclined her own head and stared down the guns of Zero and Zero's Knight. "You're well?"

Nunnally nodded. "I am. I wasn't harmed. Zero protected me."

C.C. nodded, as well, and Nunnally thought she might have smirked for a second. Then she turned her gaze to Zero. "We need to speak."

"I have nothing to say to you," Zero said. His finger was steady on the trigger of his gun. His body was levered slightly in front of Nunnally, prepared to block her from C.C.'s sight the moment the woman made an improper move. C.C. looked bored with the threat.

Kallen looked back and forth between the two. Nunnally stared hard. She hadn't known Kallen's facial features before the end of the war. She'd always thought the woman to be a brunette, perhaps with glasses; she'd always been quiet, shy, and very kind. But while Nina had ended up looking how she'd expected, Kallen hadn't. So when she'd seen Kallen, she'd actually been surprised to hear the woman's voice come from those lips.

So she hadn't yet learned the woman's face, the way it moved, the things she focused on. But expressions were universal, and she had sharp eyes. So she saw the very instant Kallen went to bite her lip before stopping herself. And she saw the next instant, where she aborted a movement to walk toward the green-haired immortal, nearly breaking her protective stance in front of Nunnally.

Kallen's loyalties were torn.

But to C.C.? That didn't seem right.

"I'm not interested in dealing with your tantrums today, Zero," C.C. said, flipping her hair back. She seemed completely uninterested in the threat to her life. Why should she be? She wouldn't die. She'd probably been shot before. "We need to speak about what's been happening."

Zero tensed. Suzaku wasn't the stone her brother had been; he couldn't hide his physical reactions the way Lelouch had learned to growing up as Charles' son. He lowered his gun just a bit, enough to change from a killing shot to a crippling one. "Who is your partner?"

C.C. sighed. "That is not what I'm here to talk about."

"It's what I'm going to talk about," Suzaku said.

Nunnally watched the exchange with stiff shoulders. They were in the hospital. A shootout would be a horrible end to the publicity they'd suffered. They needed to look strong, undefeatable. Justice, peace, could not seem fragile. "Zero," she said, breaking up the tension spinning out of control. "We can't fight here."

Zero turned to her, then back to C.C. It was obvious to Nunnally, who knew Suzaku's silences so well, that he was struggling within himself. To Suzaku, C.C. was nothing but evil. The desire to blame another for her brother's seeming change was instinctive, but useless. Her brother never did anything he didn't want to do.

Finally Zero pulled himself back and lowered his weapon. Kallen, releasing a sigh almost of relief, did the same. "Your existence here is barely tolerated, immortal." His voice was more like the Zero her brother had created, and Nunnally silently applauded it. C.C. tilted her head in acknowledgment. "You will answer my questions."

At that, C.C. smiled. "Your questions are the wrong ones." As Suzaku bristled, she continued. "There are larger issues, and I have places to be." She looked at Kallen and Nunnally, then turned back to Suzaku. "The things I have to say are for you. Shall we go?"

Suzaku was obviously not pleased with the proposition. One quick glance to Kallen showed she wasn't happy with it, either. But finally he returned his gun to its holster and stood straight, inclining his head slightly for her to take the lead.

Nunnally watched them leave, the small hospital room seeming to echo the sound of the closing door. She turned to Kallen. The woman was looking at the door as if she wanted to follow them out. Nunnally cleared her throat, and Kallen jumped. She turned wide eyes to her. "Go," she said. Kallen jumped again. "Go." She gestured to the door. "You want to, don't you?"

Kallen looked imploringly at the door, but she didn't move. "No," she said, and gritted her teeth. Nunnally frowned. "No," she said again. "I chose to stand by Zero. I trust him." The words seemed to almost hurt her. She looked at Nunnally, then moved into a new position, one that would have her ready to attack anyone who entered the room. "I know your importance to him. And to the world." She gave her a smile. "I won't abandon my post again."

_Oh._

Oh. If only her brother could see this. Nunnally hated the tears that welled in her eyes, and yet she knew they were precious. Her brother would be happy to see them, to know there were parts of her that hadn't changed. If only he knew the loyalty and love he'd inspired in those around him. "Thank you," she said.

She didn't know if Kallen got the full message, but it didn't matter. The fact that it was sent was enough.

* * *

><p>It had all reeked of <em>him<em>, right from the start.

Xingke leaned over Tianzi's bed as she slept. The surgery to remove the bullet had gone without incident, and she was said to awake in the next few hours. He rested his sword within easy reach beside him and stared down at her young face. She'd taken the wound bravely, and though she'd been hurt, she'd still trusted Zero enough to follow him down the corridor until Xingke could reach her.

If she knew that Zero was undoubtedly working on Emperor Lelouch's orders, would she still be willing to trust him?

He glared out of the room. Of course Tianzi had been given her own private room in the hospital, but the walls and door were made of glass. It may have made it easier for doctors to see if there was any need to check on the patient, but it made Xingke's job harder. His hands gripped tightly around his knees.

Before, he'd only had the suspicion that Zero was one of Emperor Lelouch's men. Not only because the plan had been so brilliantly concocted, but also because of the way Zero had moved there at the end. Not only had Zero been resurrected, but the man wearing the suit had clearly been a warrior of high caliber. The shots fired at him had been real, and he had dodged every one, almost as if he'd known where they would land. He'd been fluid, almost graceful.

Xingke had worried. The peace that had followed had been a direct result of the imposter's actions, and the peace that had been achieved had been carried by that false man. What was his angle? What was the point of the charade? What had Emperor Lelouch's plan been?

But today, seeing Zero move, being able to stand back and watch – he _knew_ those moves. He'd fought against them. The man thought to be dead – whose tombstone read his last day – was wearing the false skin of justice.

Why? What had he to gain? He had kept himself secret all this time. A horrible thought trapped itself in Xingke's mind: what if the emperor wasn't dead? Whatever had happened in the UFN just a few hours ago, the green-haired woman hadn't been the one to plan it out. And of what he remembered of Kururugi's tactics, the man couldn't possibly have been involved.

That only left the emperor.

If Kururugi had been the one to put the blade through the man, then had he somehow found a way to avoid the man's death? Xingke himself hadn't been able to see the body, so he couldn't verify. He'd been released, along with Tianzi, and his first and only concern had been her welfare. Afterward, he'd only been able to see the false Zero take his place beside the rescued Lady Nunnally as the crowd stormed the streets. But he knew others had undoubtedly checked the man's pulse. Too many people had been hurt by the emperor to dare his rising from the grave.

And yet it was the only explanation that made sense.

He saw movement from outside the room, and he watched silently as Zero followed the green-haired woman who used to follow the emperor. His gut clenched at the sight. To think that he'd allowed such a man near Tianzi...

He stood. As much as he wanted to watch over her as she slept and ensure she was all right, he had to follow. There was much he needed to learn.

* * *

><p>"Let's keep our voices down, shall we?" C.C. asked as she led him up to the hospital roof. The <em>roof<em>. How dare she take the spot he and Lelouch had always taken before. "Attention can be easily gotten in such a public place."

"Then why come to me here?"

She gave him a short look over her shoulder, as if she couldn't understand how he could possibly be so stupid. "Because here is where you were."

He had to listen to enough weird crap from the immortal attacking him. He didn't have the patience to get it from this witch, too. "Then explain what you want and go away. I don't have time for this."

"You'd better make time," she said. "You're the one causing these problems."

He snarled as they reached the edge of the roof. He touched the railing, the feel of it buried beneath the touch of the gloves over his skin. "I'm the one causing problems? You're the one who hid this woman's existence from Lelouch. You kept him from killing her, and now we're all dealing with the consequences."

She actually had the grace to grimace at that, but the look quickly disappeared. "You are the one who broke Eternity. I don't know how. I don't understand it myself. You are able to see me when I'm invisible. It's something no one else has ever managed to do." She frowned. "It may be because I showed you a glimpse of Eternity. But I never meant to. That was all you. You were able to _call_ it to you. I've never seen anything like it before."

He had no idea what she was talking about. "Get to the point."

She glared at him. "The point," she said, "is that you are an unsafe anomaly. I know you'll want to come with us when we take care of D.D.–"

"You're damn right I do."

She gusted out a sigh. "Whenever we get close, Eternity fractures. Do you understand what that means?"

He kept his silence, because no, he had no idea what it meant.

Her furrowed brows slowly evened out, and that frown pulled into that damnable smirk. "You don't, do you?" She laughed. The bitch actually laughed. His fingers itched to grab his gun. "Oh, I suppose I can tell you. It means reality itself is cracking apart." Suzaku frowned. "Normally, I might relate it to what we did in the World of C." The memories of that time were painful in his own mind. "But it all started before then. And only around you."

Suzaku's fists clenched. "So what are you saying? I'm tearing reality apart?" The very idea of it was absurd. Wasn't it?

"I don't know. All I know is that being near you is destroying Eternity. Like... like there should only be one tapestry. A bunch of threads, a bunch of potential futures, but all of them wrapped neatly into one picture. We could flit from string to string without destroying the picture that was the world." She waved her hand slightly, and for the first time in his life, he saw her start to pace. "But now... it's not like there are two pictures, but rather that we've, I don't know, created a new strand? Jumped off the picture altogether?"

He didn't want to point out that he was lost again.

She made a frustrated noise. "It's like there are certain possibilities, and we chose one that shouldn't have been possible to choose. Something about you." She glared at him. "Something about you, the decisions you've made, or the decisions people affected by you have made, weren't even decisions that _could_ have been made. As if something literally impossible happened, anyway."

What was she talking about? "So something impossible happened, and it's breaking everything apart."

She nodded, that smirk flitting back onto her features. "Yes, exactly. I'm very proud of you for following that." Oh, let him shoot her. She stopped pacing and put a finger to her lips. "The issue here is that attempting to transport D.D. to her destination would require fairly close proximity. And we can't afford that."

"I'm not letting you take her wherever you want."

Her grin slid away. "We agreed long ago that I was his shield and you his sword."

Suzaku lifted his head at the tone. "And?"

"And so I will shield his reality. It's your job to cut out any and all weaknesses. Any and all enemies."

He glared out from behind the mask he'd chosen to wear. "And?" he asked, throat nearly closed in anger.

"His reality is under attack, _Zero_. Perhaps you should focus on doing your job."

He snarled, and this time he did whip out his revolver. "It's not my _job_, witch. I chose to protect this world. That's all."

Her gaze didn't so much as flinch. She didn't even look down at his gun. Those golden eyes dove into his own, even from behind the mask, as if she could penetrate her way into his heart.

Then she snorted, nearly ladylike, and moved away. "Is that so?"

He turned his gun on her, even as she shimmered a bit, obviously becoming invisible to all others. But not to him. Somehow, for some reason, he was immune.

His hand shook as she walked calmly to the door to the roof and left. Whatever else he felt about her, he knew what she was saying was true.

There was something horribly wrong.

* * *

><p>Xingke watched as the immortal woman literally disappeared before his very eyes. Zero remained, his gun out as if to shoot the woman, following something he could no longer see. But Xingke was now certain that he wouldn't fire. He was also certain of much more.<p>

He'd gotten close enough, there at the end, following the lines of emergency generators and water containers and electric boxes to hear the end of their conversation. Zero had been called Emperor Lelouch's sword.

Fury flamed in his chest, and he once again bit back the need to cough. He couldn't afford such weaknesses. Not now. Not with such a revelation at stake.

How many more were in on it? Was this why Toudou had accepted Zero's return so gracefully? Was it why Lady Nunnally sided with Zero? Just how many people were continuing the legacy of that man?

He touched the hilt of his sword as Zero finally lowered his weapon and looked around. It would be simple enough to take care of the man. He was alone, for once, and supposedly few, if any, people were aware of where he was. If he was to strike, now would be the time.

But if he struck too soon? If the rest scattered, or his attack forced any accomplices to act faster, before he had time to discover their motives and allegiances?

No. He would have to let this man live, at least for now. And he would have to keep an eye on him.

Zero made his way to the door, his stance as regal as usual, a tension in his shoulders the only sign that something had happened. Xingke narrowed his eyes.

Yes. He would have to keep a very close eye on him. On _all_ of them.

* * *

><p>"You're a little late<br>I'm already torn  
>Torn"<p> 


	10. The Heralding

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Nine

The Heralding

* * *

><p>"Feels like the weight of the world<br>Like god in heaven gave me a turn"

~ "Weight of the World," Evanescence

* * *

><p>Kaguya bit her lip as she watched the newscast. It was apparent that whoever was attacking the UFN building was strong enough to startle Zero. Strong enough, then, to startle the world.<p>

The others in the room were quiet, awaiting her decision. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin, facing the monitors that showed the leaders of the other world nations. "It seems we have much to discuss."

"Apparently," the leader of the EU spoke, "things are hardly in control over there."

There was a small spattering of murmured agreement, and she stared the old codgers down until they shut up. "Our priority at the time was the safe evacuation of the Empress Tianzi and Lady Nunnally," she said, and the man finally stopped talking. "If you'll notice, as soon as they were declared safe, the situation was quickly contained."

"But exactly what situation are we talking about?" the man asked. She told herself it was impolite to stare at a man's scratchy beard, no matter how badly it needed grooming. "We've heard reports of attacks on the UFN recently. Why was this not averted?"

She clenched his fists beneath the table and glared at the Black Knights – particularly Shinichiro – to keep quiet. "The situation is being handled, gentlemen. This is not what we convened to discuss. Our current issue is the safety of the rest of the government officials and our plans for keeping everyone safe until the problem has been rectified."

She caught eyes with the monitor in the far corner of the room. Their Minister of Japan had been quiet so far, but his face was terminally grave. "Lady Kaguya," he said, his voice very quiet. Nonetheless, everyone silenced at his voice. Such was the influence, she supposed, that came with who he was. "What about Zero? Is all of this targeting him?"

She lifted her chin. While it would be a lie to say otherwise, saying yes might provoke several different reactions. Some might feel that Zero was a danger – a true assessment, she thought, but one she couldn't allow, since her country had basically vouched for him. She, in a moment of weakness, of sentimentality for the Zero she'd thought she'd known, had kept her voice during those first days.

But others, others who truly believed Zero to be a figure of justice, would rage over the poor treatment, might mount attack forces to try to defend him, or even just to defend themselves. But the quickest way to war was through the use of such weapons, and the mobilization couldn't be allowed. "We aren't certain, Ogi," she said. "There have been attacks on Lady Nunnally and Empress Tianzi, as well. We believe it to be a terrorist faction. Small, but mobile." She turned back to the other leaders. "Which is why we need to discuss safety measures."

She caught the frown forming deep on Ogi's face and knew he knew better than to take her words at face value. She would have to speak with him in private later. She just hoped he knew enough to stay with his wife and son, protected, until the noise died down.

* * *

><p>She was lying on the floor, completely prostrate, when Lelouch walked up to her.<p>

She was unconscious. If she wasn't immortal, by now she would be dead. He very quickly moved about the room, sleeve covering his mouth, and went to the bomb he'd had C.C. set up to keep D.D. from running out the secret exit.

The bomb was rigged with actual explosives, but it wasn't what Lelouch was interested in. Attached to the bomb was what, at first glance, might be considered a container of water. D.D., of course, would have been smart enough to recognize it for what it really was: more of the neurotoxins designed to keep a person paralyzed. And attached to that was a breathing mask and tube. Lelouch rushed it over to the prone woman and strapped the mask around her nose and mouth. Only then did he lock the door and trap the two of them inside the room together.

She looked nearly harmless, trapped as she was on the floor of the room, white hair splayed on the floor like melted wax. He only stared for a few more seconds before going over to disarm the bomb.

It took a few more minutes after he finished, but finally the trap door opened. Schneizel came up, blank eyes staring only at Lelouch. But when Lelouch pointed down to D.D., he stepped free of the trap door and went to her, tossing her over his shoulder with one hand and picking up the container of poison in the other. "Don't forget the rest of the plan," he said. While the real Schneizel would have had a sarcastic remark about that one, all this one did was bow his head. Lelouch waved him on and thought.

Schneizel would see to it that D.D. was settled on the boat Suzaku had chosen, and then he would go on to take care of the rest while Lelouch was away. That left only one last thing, then speaking with Toudou at the hospital, where he could also double-check on Nunnally's safety – just to be sure – and then a straight ride to Kaminejima, where hopefully he could find a way to destroy D.D. once and for all.

Presuming all went according to plan, he could be back in his dismal hideaway in the countryside in a few more days.

Of course, nothing ever went fully according to plan. Someone was bound to kidnap Nunnally soon.

He rubbed his head and frowned. Could immortals still get tension headaches?

Well, no matter. He had little time before the firemen came through the area. As soon as they noticed the bomb, the place would be put on full alert. The increased police presence here would make it easier for Schneizel to take D.D. off to the docks. While Schneizel completed that part of the plan, he needed to reroute Zero's men, who had undoubtedly been placed to secure the boats at the dock.

Zero's face would be needed at the docks, on the boat, in order to assure the public that Zero, champion of justice, was once again protecting them. From what Lelouch had seen, however, Suzaku was aware of the immortals, almost as if he could see them. And if that was the case, then Lelouch had to keep his head down on the boat ride to Kaminejima.

He scowled. That meant he needed to rig the boat to allow him entrance in an area and not Zero. Schneizel was out, of course; all Suzaku would have to do would be to order him to be let inside. Electrical would be the best bet, so long as the boat had doors that responded electronically. But it was a boat for Zero – it would be high-class. The best of the best.

He pressed harder into his temple then. Immortals healed quickly. Had he inhaled too much? Was it having some sort of adverse effect on him?

It would have to be something he worried about later. For now, there was a reason he'd sent Schneizel off with D.D., and it wasn't just because he didn't have the ability to cart her around.

He hurried to Tianzi's room.

* * *

><p>Something had changed.<p>

Chiba watched Toudou as he breathed steadily, in and out, his breath fogging the oxygen mask over his face. He'd been taken by the doctors to be reintubated and clear out his lungs. The diagnosis of drowning, despite her own skepticism, had proven true.

She rubbed her hands over her face. Before the battle at the UFN, Toudou had been stoic on the point of the old ally of Zero's. The woman had been little more than a problem to be solved. But when they'd spoken for that short moment, there had been a deep undercurrent of secrets passing between them. Had they spoken inside the building? But that didn't seem to be the case. Instead they both seemed to be trying to figure out just how much the other knew, or perhaps testing out loyalties. What for? Why the sudden change?

If she continued worrying about it, she would get a migraine.

Someone entered the room, and she straightened and pulled her weapon free before she even turned to see who it was. Zero stood behind her, still but seemingly unconcerned with her actions. She quickly put away her weapon. "Zero. My apologies."

Zero inclined his head, acknowledging her words, then turned his attention to Toudou. "How is he?"

She looked back to Toudou. He looked unnaturally pale, an effect of having his lungs forcibly cleaned, she supposed. He almost looked gray. "The doctors said he'll make a full recovery, though breathing will hurt for a few days."

Zero was silent, but she wasn't surprised. He always was. "He was the last out of the building."

She nodded. She didn't think he had anything to do with whatever C.C. had done. But even if he was, she wasn't yet in a position to judge. Toudou might also be working with her, and if that was the case, then there was something more to her. Toudou's loyalty was never to her, but to Zero. And oftentimes never to Zero, but to peace.

"When is he supposed to awaken?"

Her lips thinned, although she understood the question. She couldn't fault him for wanting as much information as possible, no matter how important Toudou was to her. "A few hours, at the most."

"Good. I need to speak with him when he's able." Zero turned to leave. Then he paused. "Don't let him do anything that will put his recovery in jeopardy."

And just like that, she relaxed. Zero left, and she was left once more alone in her vigil. Whatever was happening, the two men she was following were good men.

* * *

><p>Suzaku wanted, very desperately, to rub his temples. But every such movement would be aborted by the damn mask. So he was left with a budding headache and nothing he could do about it.<p>

Though Toudou might have some new information on the immortals and might have even spotted C.C.'s ally – though he wasn't willing to bet such luck could possibly land on his doorstep – he nonetheless had to make a decision without that information. In this sort of situation, Lelouch had always told him to divert attention, to stage a diversion, to gain time until more information was available and a rational decision could be made.

Of course, Lelouch had always ended that with a smug chuckle and a statement not unlike, "well, for you, such tactics would be a waste of time."

Har, har.

Of course, as soon as he thought of creating some sort of diversion until he could receive the information he needed, he threw the thought out. Even if he could distract C.C. and her cohort long enough to gain information from Toudou – going, of course, on the assumption that the man even had any information to give – it wouldn't solve his major problems. He still needed to get rid of the immortal woman, and C.C. seemed to have a way of doing so. A way that apparently included a large amount of explosives. Even without the explosives, he had no desire to leave anything to such a manipulative creature. But with such dangerous items in her charge, he most certainly had to accompany her. He wouldn't hand anyone such control over such weapons.

That, however, brought up the next problem. If he and C.C. couldn't be close to one another without "cracking Eternity," whatever that meant exactly, then there would be more than a few complications with getting onboard a boat together. He couldn't let her go alone, and he couldn't afford to get on to another ship to follow her out. She could just lose him, or have his ship attacked, or throw some of the damn ammunition at his vessel. He wouldn't put anything past her.

And of course, the next problem was the safety of Nunnally and Tianzi. Though he was almost positive the damage to the young Chinese Empress had been accidental, he also couldn't let go of the fact that the white-haired immortal woman had attacked both of the young ladies with no regard to their safety. If he left them alone, would they be safe until he returned? No one could see the woman, not even him, and he could see C.C. no matter where the woman hid. But out of all of them in that building, he'd been the only one to land consecutive successful hits. It was because of his Geass. Lelouch's Geass.

He felt his headache get just a little bit worse as the usual emotions warred within him at that. And even though he wanted to scream at Lelouch again for cursing him, he couldn't help but remember the feel of resistant give in Lelouch's body as his sword–

He found himself hyperventilating, right there in the middle of the hospital hallway, and forced himself to curb those thoughts away. Thinking on it helped nothing. He had to solve this problem on his own–

He squeezed his eyes shut. No more thinking about it. Not at all.

Before his thoughts could slide once more from his control, he hurried to Tianzi's room. His brows lowered when he noticed Xingke wasn't by her side and wondered where the man could be. He had an almost unhealthy obsession with the young girl. With her injured like this, he couldn't understand why the man wouldn't be glued to her side until she recovered.

He moved forward into the room, letting the door close behind him. The headache dulled a bit, down to a low throb, and he looked down on her. The bed dwarfed her; over the year, she hadn't grown much, and was still nothing more than a slip of a girl, tinier even than Nunnally. An IV drip fed through the back of one tiny hand, her fingers lying limp on the white sheets. Suzaku's fists clenched. Whatever hatred D.D. had for him, she had no business harming innocents for her cause.

The door banged open behind him, and despite the rules of Zero decorum, he twisted and hunkered down, turning his body so that Tianzi was hidden safely behind him. Yet the only person on the other side of the room was Xingke. Suzaku straightened quickly, nearly clearing his throat as he tried to take on the persona of the unflappable Zero once again. "Xingke. I wondered where you were," he said, and moved away so that the man could see Tianzi.

Xingke quickly stepped forward, in-between Suzaku and Tianzi, and drank in the sight of the young girl. Suzaku recognized the movement for what it was; the man still didn't trust him. He sighed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't able to protect her."

It might not have been something that Zero would normally say, but it didn't matter. It had to be said. And a small, tiny part of him, throbbing in time with the headache, said it was exactly what needed to be said. Lelouch had chosen _him_ to be Zero, and he'd done it for a reason. Though they weren't words he'd ever heard Lelouch speak, somehow they felt right.

Xingke sent him a look over his shoulder and skimmed one short hand over her, just barely not touching. Those eyes flickered over her form once, then again, slower, cataloging everything. Suzaku waited for the man to realize there was no change before speaking again. "Black Knights will guard her room, as well, so you can get some rest if you wish." They both knew he wouldn't leave the room again any time soon. "After she recovers enough, she should be taken to the Embassy. Lady Nunnally will be escorted there, as well."

Xingke narrowed his eyes, but kept his silence.

There was something in that gaze that made his heart hammer, made the headache get just that little bit worse. Xingke had always regarded him with trepidation, a sort of suspicion lining his every move. But now there seemed to be something deeper. Suzaku could only think it was because he'd failed to protect Tianzi.

There wasn't anything he could say that would lessen the failure. There wasn't anything he could do about it. He'd acted first to protect Nunnally, and his Geass hadn't let him do more. It had forced him to keep himself alive, stopped him from jumping front of the bullet – apparently having done so would have led to his death. He'd only been able to move her enough to keep it from being a killing shot.

He bowed, a short one to him, then a longer one to Tianzi. Xingke's eyes narrowed further, but the man looked almost torn. Zero never bowed.

Suzaku left the room and hurried to Nunnally.

His temples throbbed as he walked merely two doors over and found Nunnally relaxed against the bed behind Kallen. Though Kallen was watching the door and nodded slightly to Suzaku as he entered, she and Nunnally continued engaging in small talk. Mostly, it seemed, about their old classmates. The sound made him smile, even as his heart ached. In hiding who he was, he found himself unable to join in. "Lady Nunnally."

Nunnally stopped reminiscing on Rivalz' attitude toward Millie – still pining, was he? Really? – and turned to him, the formal address getting across to her immediately. "What do you need, Zero?"

The words somehow shocked him. They shouldn't have, not after all this time. But it once again hit him, how she was no longer the sweet, naïve little girl. He straightened his shoulders; she was so strong, and he couldn't help seeing Lelouch in her. Even though the thought cut like a knife, he found himself so proud of her. Proud that she was carrying Lelouch as he'd been, the goodness in him, the loyalty and intellect.

It had to be the growing headache that was making his vision blur.

"You shall be escorted to the Embassy. Lady Kaguya and the Black Knights can protect you." He barely remembered to say 'shall' instead of 'will'; Lelouch had demanded the word usage; no 'should', as that gave people options; no 'will', because it sounded like an order. 'Shall' made something seem inevitable, and people followed it faster.

And once again, Suzaku had to watch Lelouch's brilliance in action; thought Nunnally opened her mouth to protest, she stopped mid-sound and seemed to think over what Suzaku had said. And then she sighed and caved, even though Suzaku knew she wanted to continue being a part of things. "All right." She looked from Zero to his first Knight. "Will Kallen be accompanying you?"

Suzaku's first instinct was to say no. Then he looked at her. She almost looked resigned to the inevitable refutation. Her shoulders were hunched. She didn't make eye contact with him. The old Kallen, the one who had followed Zero loyally – blindly – had never doubted. Suzaku remembered her glaring at him through the glass prison and found himself caving, as well. "Of course."

Kallen looked up at him with wide eyes. "I am?" she asked, and then seemed to hear herself. She straightened her spine and – thank everything – met his eyes. Finally. "Of course, Zero."

And there was that glint of righteousness in her eyes again, her lips almost pulled into a grin. Suzaku nodded, even as a weight settled on his shoulders and something set free from his chest. She would follow him now, anywhere he went. Had Lelouch felt this same weight, this same exultation, knowing that someone was willing to place themselves so completely in his hands? "I'll communicate with you when the time comes. Be warned: it will be soon." She just nodded, that grin growing, spreading, breaking like dawn across her face. "Until then, protect Nunnally on her way to the Embassy."

She nodded. "Yes, Zero."

He looked to Nunnally, her gaze on Kallen, her expression a bastard mix of pride and pain, then back at Kallen, her eyes bright, her body nearly thrumming with purpose.

Yes, Suzaku decided. He'd felt the weight. Suzaku had no doubt of it. Lelouch hadn't changed so much that he didn't feel the weight of all that he'd done, all that he'd become. It was why he'd said he was the evil that the world would despise, why he'd said his death would bring peace. He'd understood that he'd become the worst sort of demon in his quest for peace. When a killer went around killing the other killers, the last step would be to kill him. Lelouch had understood that.

And god, Suzaku thought, reeling, Lelouch always walked up to a puzzle with all the answers already in his head. Had that been Lelouch's answer from the very start? Had he always known that he would have to die? Had everything Lelouch done been with such an end goal in mind?

Suzaku nodded numbly to the women and made his way out of the room, into the hallway – the public hallway, but he couldn't think to find someplace private when his every thought told him that he'd been Lelouch's final instrument not because Lelouch had accepted Suzaku's judgment, but because he'd chosen it from the start.

When Suzaku had become a killer in order to end war – when he'd killed his father – he'd hidden his sin and continued living. Lelouch hadn't wrapped himself in such a pretty lie.

He looked at his hands. They shook. He could still see the blood on them. His father's blood. The blood of those he'd failed to save, or those he'd killed himself. Soldiers on the battlefield. And worse, the blood of the man who'd most likely chosen to die before he ever stepped foot on a battlefield.

He clenched his hands into fists, and it still didn't stop the shaking. His headache was now a pounding blast of pain that echoed his every heartbeat.

For so long, he'd lied to himself and said it was the right thing to do. But was it? He'd chosen to live despite what he'd done. He'd wanted to live, wanted to continue helping the world, wanted to one day see Lelouch and Nunnally again. He'd just _wanted_. He'd had hopes, dreams.

What had Lelouch's hopes been? His dreams? By the time Suzaku had found him again, Lelouch had already become Zero. Had that been what he'd wanted, or what he'd believed necessary to bring peace? Suzaku hadn't _wanted_ his father dead; he'd just believed it to be the best choice for the world.

He moved to cover his face with his stained hands and encountered the mask. Suddenly he wanted to rip it off, to throw it away, to crack the glass and tear the thing to pieces, until there was nothing left. If Lelouch had given everything to bring this peace to the world, then what had Suzaku done? Why had he...

And despite himself, the image played in his head, even as he fought against it; the shocked look on Lelouch's face disappearing in one short instant, his encouraging, triumphant smile as Suzaku thrust his sword forward – sword, archaic, playing on the people's ideas of the age of chivalry, of knights and samurai – and how that smile had dropped and those eyes had widened as if surprised by the amount of pain getting gutted could bring. The way he fell back, then pulled himself forward, grimacing.

_Stop. Stop._

Lelouch spoke to him. Whispered, murmured, and Suzaku begged the words to fall into oblivion, but he heard them, anyway. "This is also a punishment for you."

_Stop, stop, don't._

"You will be the defender of justice and wear a mask forever. You will no longer be able to live as Kururugi Suzaku." And Lelouch cupped Zero's mask as if to touch Suzaku's cheek – _oh, God, oh, God, somehow he'd never noticed the importance of that before_ – and left his blood on Suzaku's mask, his stain, his second sin, the irrevocable sign of Suzaku's own hatred. "You will sacrifice all of your own happiness for the world... eternally..."

_His own happiness_. God. God.

And his own voice, choking out his response, trying to give something when he didn't even realize he wanted to give Lelouch anything, heedless of the tears Suzaku remembered clearly now, as they dripped down his face once again. "I accept that Geass."

And then Lelouch's hand had fallen from his mask – _his cheek_ – and Suzaku ripped the sword back out, Lelouch's blood spraying everywhere. Lelouch had stumbled forward, trying to get into a position Suzaku hadn't known, and Suzaku had been frozen, unable to move, a statue as his friend finally stumbled and fell down the ramp – so _that_ was why Lelouch had demanded the float be made that way, Suzaku had thought, and had found himself lost as to why his mind would even think such a thing at such a time – and Lelouch had fallen. Suzaku had turned, watched, unable to turn his eyes away. Lelouch landed next to Nunnally. Spoke to her, words too soft for Suzaku to hear. Nunnally screamed. Suzaku threw Lelouch's blood off the sword, unable to stand the weight of it, and people heart was thundering in his chest and people were cheering.

Why hadn't he seen? Why – no, no, he realized, his entire body trembling. He had. He _had_ seen, he'd just chosen to not see it, because he couldn't. He couldn't. Lelouch had said it from the start – that wishes were a Geass, that Zero Requiem would be the demolishing of evil. He'd said it there, right at the end, when Suzaku couldn't pull away.

Lelouch's hand on his cheek. His last words – _"You will sacrifice all of your own happiness for the world... eternally..."_ – Lelouch had been confessing. Lelouch had... had...

His heart surged, roiled. So many emotions bombarded him that he staggered where he stood. Zero's look was destroyed.

Lelouch. Lelouch. God, what had he done?

His heart hammered, thick blood coursing through his veins. All this time. All this time, his mind had been trying to show him this, this one, awful truth, and he'd fought it because he couldn't stand the sight of so much blood on his hands. What else had he missed? What else had Lelouch showed him that he'd turned away from because he'd been so full of his own self-righteous conviction? And god, Lelouch was dead. Because of him. And he would never have the chance to say that he'd loved Lelouch like a brother, like more than a brother, like Lelouch had been his brightest star. He had no chance to explain that the reason he'd felt so angry, so hurt, was because Lelouch had been his steady sky, his loyal friend, his confidante, his everything, and Lelouch had ripped it away by being... being...

Dear God, if Lelouch had done everything so that he would be killed so that peace would be... Dear God, he thought, tears running anew, he'd killed Lelouch and Lelouch had always been his friend.

Shirley had been right. Lelouch was Lelouch, and Suzaku had simply chosen to not forgive him.

And now it was too late.

* * *

><p>Lelouch looked up at the hospital as he approached. Though speaking with Toudou may not be possible yet – the man had to recover from forced laryngospasms, after all – but he could at least leave the man a message. Toudou was smart enough to keep his mouth shut on the matter, at least until they could speak to one another. Leaving a message promising to do just that would buy him the time to deal with D.D. Then he could check on Nunnally, though C.C. had already done so for him behind his back.<p>

And after that, he would have to speak with C.C. The migraine pounding like a waterfall on his mind was not normal for a superhealing immortal.

He rubbed it as he kept his invisibility, waiting for someone to enter the hospital – a cop – so gain entrance. The place was a mass of clumping people, the waiting area overrun with Black Knights and cops. Everyone was on alert, and Lelouch had to swerve several times to avoid getting run over by people hurrying through.

Past the waiting area and first hallways, however, the place quickly cleared into near-emptiness. He looked around. The sides of the place was curtained off for individual patients, and he dismissed them as soon as he saw them. Neither Toudou nor Nunnally would be placed in such a high-risk area. They would be taken deeper into the building, potentially on the second floor but no higher, in an area that had at least two possible exits. Preferably three. Lelouch stopped by a map of the hospital tacked to the wall and studied it. There were four floors to the hospital; the top two were for several surgery rooms and ICU areas. Neither of those floors would do, if only because jumping out a window would be too dangerous, and it was always a fallback plan.

The second floor had a few more surgery rooms, along with the maternity and pediatric wards. They would stay away from children, but the other side of the floor had very few access points.

That left the first floor. While exits would be nice, an overabundance of windows would make it difficult to properly withstand an attack. That knocked off a couple of the wards in the back. That left only two places with private rooms. One would be near the emergency surgery rooms on the first floor. That one was out; the Knights wouldn't feel safe if nurses and doctors started shouting and running around just outside of the rooms. Which left the right side, B Wing, just down from several waiting rooms in a linear hallway that led to an intersection near the back of the building. Just to the right of the intersection would be private rooms cordoned off for patients in critical condition. The rooms all sat on the right side of the hall, which offered a wide hallway and a nurse station just in front of the area.

It wasn't a perfect place, but it offered the intersection – several escape routes – and the other side of the hallway, which branched into another intersection and offered a nearby exit in the back of the hospital.

Lelouch had barely started down the hall when an announcement came over the speakers. "Solomon Fox, Didi Law is here to pick you up in the front lobby. Solomon Fox, Didi Law is waiting for you in the front lobby."

He froze. Dammit, Schneizel!

He'd handed the idiot the immortal woman on a silver platter. She'd been completely helpless when he'd handed her off. What had Schneizel managed to do to destroy his plan?

That didn't matter now. He had no idea how long it had been since the woman had disappeared. How long had it taken for Schneizel to find C.C. and get her to leave that message at the front desk?

He raced down the halls then, nearly bumping into the nurses walking past the beds of people waiting for their MRI's or CAT scans on either side of the hall, until finally the halls emptied out and he screeched down to the intersection, his breath thundering hot in his lungs already. Damn lack of stamina.

The migraine nearly seemed to split his head apart, putting white dots in front of his vision as he finally found the turn that would lead him to Nunnally and Suzaku. He turned widely around the corner and stopped still.

Zero – Suzaku – was leaning brokenly against the clear row of patient rooms, his hands on his mask. Lelouch searched for signs of a wound, but only saw lines of devastation in that stance. His heart clenched. Nunnally.

And then Zero froze and looked straight at him, and the world behind his eyes exploded.

* * *

><p>"Don't cling to me, I swear I can't fix you<br>Safe in the dark, can you fix me?"

~ "Weight of the World," Evanescence


	11. Discoveries

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Ten

Discoveries

* * *

><p>"I hit you and you hit me back<br>We fall to the floor, the rest of the day stands still  
>Fine line between this and that<br>When things go wrong, I pretend that the past isn't real

Now I'm trapped in this memory  
>And I'm left in the wake of the mistake, slow to react<br>So even though you're close to me, you're still so distant  
>And I can't bring you back"<p>

~ "With You," Linkin Park

* * *

><p>The first thought Suzaku had was the the world had ended. That somehow, the Eternity that the witch had been harping on about had finally torn itself asunder. He saw an image of Lelouch in a black hooded robe, shimmery like C.C., and pain had exploded in his mind. The headache he'd been suffering from since the attack on the UFN had switched from a grimacing pound to an all-out full-frontal assault. He tried to squeeze his head and found his hands slapping roughly against the mask. The sound of the smacks made the headache roar.<p>

"Zero?"

Oh, _hell_.

Suzaku forced his head up, only to find a Knight to be frowning up at him, her brows puckered low over her large eyes. "Are you okay?"

He cleared his throat. It wasn't something Zero would do, but he figured his voice cracking and wobbling would be even worse. "I'm fine." His vision was blotchy and his head was killing him.

But in the same instant, he turned and saw Lelouch straightening from a hunched figure of his own, and Suzaku's heart flipped and hammered in his chest.

"Lelouch," he said, his voice a breath, a whisper, a sigh and a plea, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. He stood from Zero's new sofa in his private room in the UFN, his legs nearly not supporting him.

Lelouch shook and gasped. There was dirt all over him. Everywhere, staining his once-white emperor's clothing and turning his hair a horrible mud brown. His eyes, however, were clear and bright and purple, blessedly purple, with no Geass in sight. His chest heaved. "Suzaku," he said, and his voice was not at all the usual strong and assured snark.

Suzaku wrenched himself forward, grabbing Lelouch up. "How... how is this...? I killed you."

Lelouch shook his head as Suzaku's hands wrapped around him, pulling the thin frame to his chest and nearly weeping. It was warm. Then he nodded. "Yes. You killed me. Something's gone wrong. I was afraid it might happen."

Afraid? Wrong? Suzaku laughed; it sounded horrible and wrong through the mask, and suddenly he needed the damn thing _off_. He moved them around until Suzaku's back was to the door. Then he slammed his gloved fist over the door controls and waited impatiently for the thing to close. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would do. "What are you talking about? No, wait, wait." And he moved Lelouch backward. The man looked like he needed leading. The thought of it made Suzaku shake.

Once they made it to the ridiculously red sofa, Suzaku pulled Lelouch down into it. The man seemed to be getting his wind back; his shoulders straightened and he actually had the nerve to try to get free of Suzaku's hold. Suzaku just made an obstinate noise and pulled Lelouch closer. He huffed. The warm air puffed against the leather of Zero's costume.

"How did you get here without anyone seeing you?" he asked, even as he attempted to one-handedly pull off Zero's mask. It clattered to the floor, and he hugged Lelouch tight once more.

"I didn't, you idiot." But Suzaku could hear Lelouch's smile. "I'm immortal." Suzaku's arms spasmed around Lelouch's sides. Lelouch stiffened. "It was a possibility," he said, speaking quickly before Suzaku could. "When Charles died, he died because I willed it into being. I, in essence, killed him. When I did, it must have been enough to transfer his immortality to me."

Suzaku's brain flatlined. "How?" he asked, but Lelouch only shrugged. He was no longer struggling to get out of Suzaku's grasp, but he wasn't burrowing in deeper, either. "That's... but what about you? Is there a way to... to end it?"

Lelouch shook his head. "No," he said, and Suzaku wished the man could lie and spare him as he had when they had first met again. He buried his nose in Lelouch's filthy hair. "The only way to end my existence, according to C.C. – who's had more than enough time to consider the problem – is to give someone Geass and have them take my immortality for themselves."

Suzaku, who had just been wondering if he could somehow save Lelouch this time, found himself freezing. Take Geass? His entire being balked at the very idea. But then to take Lelouch's immortality and live forever? His mind, ridiculously, went to the idea of a Zero who never aged. Never died. Wouldn't that be exactly what the people needed? But the thought of living forever sounded excruciating, and he didn't know that he had the strength for it.

It was a moot point, anyway, he realized. Lelouch would never allow it to happen.

Another thought occurred to him, and he leaned back a bit. Lelouch seemed to stiffen still more, but he allowed Suzaku to retreat. Suzaku bent down, then reached and held out Zero's mask. "Does this mean that you–"

But Lelouch didn't even let him finish before pushing the mask lightly back to Suzaku. A smile winked onto that face before dripping away, pulling those thin brows low. "No, Suzaku. I meant it when I said you are everything Zero must be. It can only be you."

Almost, Suzaku demanded to know why, if that was the case, Lelouch had even bothered coming back. But god, he couldn't. He couldn't. Lelouch was alive. He hadn't killed him. He snatched Lelouch into another hug, hardly seeing those eyes widen before he crushed Lelouch once more into his chest, the helmet lightly bumping against Lelouch's back. Anything to do with immortality or Geass could wait one more day. Several more days. He dragged Lelouch's head up and slanted his lips fervently upon those below him.

Alive. Alive. They were both alive. He would deal with the rest later.

Suzaku blinked and Lelouch was gone. The hospital hallway was empty. His heart hammered wildly in his chest.

What the hell had that been? He stared for a few moments longer. He could have sworn he'd seen Lelouch, shimmering just as C.C. did, clutching his head as if in a pain mirroring Suzaku's own. Had that been a mirage, too? A false world, a – what had the witch called it? – a different reality. Had it been a different reality?

But why would such a reality be shown to him? Was C.C. still nearby, or was D.D.? Or had it been C.C.'s partner?

_Her partner_. Who would she partner with? _Lelouch_, his mind replied, and he reared back at the very thought.

In that alternate reality, in that fake world, that false scene he'd seen or imagined or created (how the hell did anyone make any sense of such madness?), he'd seen Lelouch come back to him just a few short days after assuming the identity of Zero. Had he made such a thing up, or had it held some truth? And if it _had_ held some truth...

His heart hammered in his chest, a something like thick sludge sliding down his spine. Did that mean Lelouch was alive?

A light touch on his forearm made him jump, and he turned to find the petite Knight from before trying to give him a small grin. "It's all right." While he just stood there staring at her, her grin grew. Definitely a reassuring one. "I promise. We'll take care of them."

He had no idea what she was talking about, but he nodded. "Thank you." And he once again turned to that intersection. He had to go see. He had to find C.C. and confront her about this. "I must..." But where to start? If the breaks in Eternity were getting that large, did that mean reality was going to rip apart? And if so, could he endanger the world by going after C.C.?

But the girl before him hadn't seemed to have seen anything, and that smile of hers didn't dim. "Go," she said. "Take care of it. And if you need help, you have your Knights."

He didn't know about that, didn't even half know what she was saying, but he nodded and left, anyway, trying to make his strides seem strong. If nothing else, he still had D.D. to deal with. He would just focus on that.

* * *

><p>What the hell had that been?<p>

Lelouch brushed a shaking hand over his face. It had looked as if the world, a planet he actually saw in front of his eyes – had been tearing and cracking apart. He saw faces, millions of them, straining out – the World of C, he knew, somehow, and recognized those faces as the formless unconsciousness he'd seen before – and they had been tearing apart, as if their bodies were melting and ripping like paper, all at the same time.

He didn't even know the term for it, but somehow he understood the emotions it evoked. The world was of one mind, one consciousness. One existence, per se, based on the consciousnesses of humans past and present. Every single person, every single person's desires, made up the world. He'd been right when he'd said that a person's wish was like a Geass – people would demand the world be a certain way, and through everyone's desires, the world would be shaped. Everyone had wanted peace, had been willing to kill for it, and so they had killed, and finally killed him, and peace had been achieved. A world created wholly from peoples' wishes.

They, those people, those living and those who had died, would be in charge of the future – that one gray world where full color can never be achieved because humanity would never be fully and completely alive – always another generation waiting. And something impossible had happened – someone had gone against their intrinsic selves and thus destroyed that one world of pasts and presents.

Impossible decisions. Lelouch took a deep, gasping breath. The headache, he realized, and stilled. It was gone. No, not completely gone, but for the time it had taken for those pictures to explode in his head, the headache had disappeared.

Something was going on. Obviously the headache and the dissembling universe were linked, or else why have it disappear the moment the images came? And it was swiftly building again, now that the images were gone. Something – something linked to proximity? Had he been near the source? He thought of Nunnally, then Suzaku, then the Knights. He'd been near all of them before. This had never been a problem. Then again, the headache was new, as well.

Acceleration of dissemblance, then. A ripping apart of the unconsciousness. Was that possible? And was the unconsciousness known as 'god' somehow directly linked to the world?

He strummed his fingers against the wall behind him and scowled out into the hallway. He needed more answers, and the only source of information he had was C.C., since Schneizel had somehow managed to lose D.D. Something else he needed to be concerned about.

The headache grew steadily as he pondered his predicament. Suddenly it seemed obvious that Suzaku had not been reacting to any sort of attack, but to the same sort of mental assault that Lelouch had gone through. If that was the case, then he was the thing that was causing a sympathetic response within him. Had something around Suzaku altered the 'inevitable' futures created by peoples' wills? How had Suzaku managed to do that?

But of course, if anyone could manage it, it would have to be Suzaku. Who else?

He nearly froze when he heard footsteps clapping against the hospital tiles and realized that Suzaku was coming this way. He checked to make sure he was invisible, then hurried around a corner, into a patient's room. He heard the beeping of a monitor and looked over long enough to see a balding man staring glumly at a sudoku puzzle before turning back to the hall. The headache was getting progressively worse the closer Suzaku got. It was definitely linked to him. If they got too close, would the flashes of the universe run across his vision again? He almost wanted to test it, to see what other information he could recover, but he didn't know what it did to a mortal. Would repeated efforts do unintended harm to Suzaku?

Those footsteps paused, then stopped. Just down the hall from where Lelouch stood. He grimaced. There was a probability that Suzaku could sense the danger associated with the odd blackouts, or perhaps the danger from the headaches. And if that wsa the case, then Suzaku might attempt to ignore the Geass' warning and try to find – and there it was, Suzaku walking toward the room. Lelouch had been invisible to Suzaku the first time they'd met, but the ability didn't seem to be working anymore. A heightening of whatever issue was occurring? Was this due to D.D.'s involvement or, more likely, simply because Lelouch had chosen to get close to Suzaku?

Evidence: close proximity between Lelouch and Suzaku was causing rips in the world somehow. These rips were causing physical pain, visions, and a more symbiotic – or just sympathetic – relationship between the two of them. Suzaku could see him. Suzaku could potentially see the world through the eyes of the immortal, or at least through the World of C's unconsciousness.

As for how to take care of the rising issue, it would have to wait. The room he'd hurried into didn't have a second exit.

The headache pounded thick in his skull, and he scuttled back. Zero would attempt to look strong in front of a civilian, and he wouldn't ask the man anything. But Suzaku was impetuous and obstinate, and chances were high that he would simply walk into the room and look around, ignoring the hospitalized man's indignant squawks. Hiding would be useless. Attack, then? But no; Lelouch's Geass would ensure Suzaku dodge the blow, especially since he was already utilizing it to find where Lelouch had hidden.

Of course, there was also the matter of Suzaku having already seen him. Even if it was just for an instant, Suzaku was at least bright enough to want to further examine the evidence. C.C. had a known accomplice. It would make sense to wonder if that accomplice, who C.C. had helpfully already admitted was a man, could be Lelouch. Though Suzaku wouldn't understand how or why, he would assume judgment before getting all the facts. He'd already proven that annoying habit several times in the course of their acquaintance.

And now Suzaku was just outside the room, and the headache was horrible, nearly blinding, and Suzaku stopped. It felt like the world was crashing upon his forehead, destroying his mind, pulling it apart piece by piece, and yet he felt as if he didn't take that last step, he would die. He needed to move forward. It was not a conscious decision, or even a desire. It was as if the Geass symbol on his hip was pushing, perhaps pulling, at him, as if something wanted him and Suzaku to meet.

It was not a feeling he recognized from anything previous in his short existence as an immortal, but he was still absolutely positive that it was as normal as the headaches – which was to say, not at all. The instinct seemed born from the same place as the headaches, and he realized that the vision he'd received had been a warning, not a punishment.

The same moment he realized that, he felt something else churning around him.

It made him suck in a breath, made him cold and hot and unwitting, and he gritted his teeth. Something was manipulating him physically. What could do that? He was positive C.C. would have warned him of this, at least; the witch knew better than to hide something so damning from him. It wasn't her, anyway; the feeling was powerful, like an intrinsic force.

_Intrinsic._ Of course. But how? He hurried to the hospital bed and looked behind it. Great. One of the few rooms that didn't leave all the usual paraphernalia lying about. He needed a blood pressure pump. Or maybe an IV? He turned. Great. Attached to the man. Well, he would just have to go without for a little while.

Lelouch ripped the thing out, making the man shout, and wrenched the thing into his neck. It was far more dangerous, but it was faster than the blood pump, so maybe he should be grateful? As if gratefulness had anything to do with anything at this point.

Of course Suzaku came into the room then, but Lelouch quickly ducked down. The pain in his head ratcheted tenfold as Suzaku opened the doors. He didn't manage a single step inside before the pain shot off in his head once more, forcing a rush of adrenaline – of blood – and the IV drip forcing morphine or whatever the man had been on into a body that didn't need it, and he squeezed the bag until a few more drops slithered out, and his breathing started to quicken.

Then as before, the pain was suddenly gone and he saw the earth and its shadow, until it morphed into something almost mechanic – the World of C, he thought, and knew it to be true – and he saw what looked like feathers fly past, and somehow he understood that this was the death of the unconsciousness, of the part of it that watched over everything. He saw flashes – a horde of immortals, each seeming to pray, the planets and the stars forming through their wills – _wills_, the word whispered, and his existence shook – a rock, the Geass symbol carved in it as if y a lightning blast – and a memory, nearly fleeting, of when he'd first gotten the Geass and made the contract, of how it had felt as if he'd been locking two gears together and about to turn them.

_The Geass is a wish_. And as the knowledge pounded into his head, he collapsed to the tiled floor of the hospital and felt his heart go into tachycardia.

He had mere moments before his heart went into arrest, and his body still pulsed to get near Suzaku, to grab him and – he didn't know what. All he knew was that Suzaku had been right, horribly right, and he hated the both of them for it.

_Your existence is an error._

* * *

><p>C.C. could feel it. Deep inside her, like a drug, calling out to her. She'd known the feeling before, had taken solace in it. There was always a sort of solace in the World of C, as if the place was a home beyond home. She knew it was because the Geass was somehow linked to it. The two seemed to share a sort of birth, as if they'd come from the same womb. As if this planet and everything in it was housed by the World of C, and those with Geass were the arms and limbs of its will. The idea of getting back at it, of changing it forever, had been a pleasurable one, if ultimately unsatisfactory. She'd been willing to accept the price of never having found a reason to live if her death could at least <em>arrive<em>.

Of course, Lelouch hadn't seen it that way. When did he ever? But the feeling was one she'd never experienced out in the world before. It was that feeling of standing beside the unconsciousness, of being in its presence. But she could feel it now, and in a distant, remote sort of way, she felt as if it was calling for her.

Not for her, she realized, but for the one like her. Lelouch.

Panic sang through her then. There was no reason for the unconsciousness to want him. She turned from the docks and the men she'd knocked unconscious and hurried away. Schneizel looked to be thinking there by the boat, most likely attempting to find a way to complete Lelouch's order to drag D.D.'s body to the boat without actually _having_ the body anymore – and she couldn't be bothered to deal with the layabout at the moment. "Call for back-up," she suggested, then said, "Zero always relied on Agent Orange, didn't he?" And though there was absolutely nothing to suggest one way or the other, she thought the mindless puppet might have managed to put two and two together there at the very end.

If Lelouch had been targeted by the unconsciousness – if it had found a way to move, or to attack – would it want revenge for what Lelouch did to it? Using its own Geass on itself, forcing it to do as he willed...

She actually stopped at the edge of the docks as the thought consumed her. Waves lapped at the harbor's edge. Could... that be it? Could Lelouch's actions be what caused Eternity to... but no, she thought, relieved. The reactions only occurred around Suzaku. So it had to be something to do with him. But could it be because of Lelouch somehow, as well? Or else, why not react similarly to D.D.? Why just around her? Did it happen around Lelouch? She didn't know; they tried to avoid each other, since the two of them meeting again were on Lelouch's 'Never Gonna Let Happen' list. Which was a stupid and boring list, by the way.

She thought it over a bit more as she slowly made her way toward the feeling dragging her forward. If the trouble _was_ caused by Lelouch and Suzaku together, then obviously the correct answer would be to have them solve it together. Normally, Lelouch would never forgive her for interfering in such a way, and she thought she could understand why. Unrequited love sucked.

The best thing to do would be to arrive as late as possible, and to only get involved if she absolutely had to. Yes, that was definitely the best option. The World of C had never given her the feeling of danger. If anything, if had been comfortable. There was no reason to believe Lelouch was in danger. And if he was, could the World of C kill him? He was immortal. Besides, it had never been sentient. It was just a thing. A bunch of old, dead consciousnesses clumped together.

Maybe. Except Lelouch had managed to use his Geass on it. So...

The uneasy feeling returned, and she altered her plan once more. She would walk, but she would walk _quickly_. Just in case.

* * *

><p>"What do we do?" Suzaku asked, Zero mask still firmly in place as people scuttled back and forth.<p>

"The message was meant to lure us out," Lelouch said, and he smirked. God, Suzaku loved that smirk. "It's simple enough to clear up the message; C.C. will be on top of that." Lelouch waved it away as if it was nothing, his hand almost seeming to shimmer at the movement. Suzaku had almost gotten used to the look of Lelouch hiding himself from the rest of the world, and he was glad that he could see him, though he hadn't understood Lelouch's explanation as to why. Something about the World of C and the fact that they'd had sex while Lelouch's immortality waited inside of him, nesting until he died. Suzaku didn't know for sure, but he thought it might be because a bit of his DNA might have been left inside Lelouch when he'd turned. Which never failed to make him flush horribly and Lelouch to laugh like a maniac.

"But you think the message is more sinister."

"It is," he said, and there was that 'I'll talk slowly so you can follow' tone. Suzaku snarled at it, even though Lelouch couldn't see. Lelouch probably knew exactly how Suzaku would react. His smirk twitched as if he did. "No doubt the person writing these messages intends to confront us at some point. I believe the entire point is to expose you."

Suzaku stiffened. He had enough problems in life, taking over as Zero, dealing with an immortal lover who the world thought – and desired to be – dead. He didn't need any more crap. "So again, what do we do?"

Lelouch's smirk slid into one of those triumphant grins. "You just leave that to me."

And gods help him, he already knew he would.

Suzaku stumbled back, bumping his arm against the side of the door frame and nearly spilling back out into the hallway. He'd ignored the warning of his Geass, had used it to lead him to – to what? To an enemy? To C.C.? To her cohort? To _Lelouch?_ – and had hardly managed to start peering through the haze of his headache before the damn scenery had changed to the UFN again. What the hell was he seeing? Why was Lelouch there? Why had they been _kissing?_

_Stupid question_, he thought, especially considering the epiphany he had.

But that thought wasn't his, and he turned.

D.D. stood behind him, perfectly visible to the naked eye, her eyes wide and stance at ease. He whipped out his gun. She merely held up a hand. "That is unnecessary, Protector. I am merely here to help."

Suzaku frowned. "You haven't helped anyone."

She lowered her hand, looking at it for a moment as if unsure quite what it was before looking back up at him. She completely ignored his gun. Why not? he thought, something red-hot bubbling in his chest. She could just walk away from it. "I'm certain she hasn't. Her love of drama is matched only to her love of perceived justice. It has always been a fault of her line." She looked behind Suzaku. "Hm." And turned to him. "Come." She held out her hand.

Suzaku nearly shot it. "No."

She tilted her head once more. "Ah. Of course." She reached for his hand then, and he finally fired. The bullet tore through her palm, destroying cartilage and tendon and even bone. She didn't so much as flinch, but instead touched his wrist, pulling slightly at the sleeve of Zero's costume before finally making contact. He jumped at the coldness of her skin. Like icicles, her fingers wrapped around his wrist. But the hold wasn't hard and painful. It was barely even firm. Her blood soaked the sleeve and glove, but her body was already healing. "You have trouble being in proximity to him. It is understandable. Too much time has gone by. Too much." Her voice slid to a whisper, and her eyes turned dim and glazed. She suddenly looked like a corpse, and he wanted to wrench his arm free.

The man inside the hospital room shrieked a bit, and Suzaku thought he heard the man punching the help button over his head. How wonderful. More witnesses.

But his Geass was no longer firing warning shots, and so he stepped back into the room and felt... nothing. He held his breath, waiting for the headache to roar back up, or for the illusions to take him over once again. But there was nothing. He looked back at the immortal woman, then down to her hand on his wrist. It slid away, and his heart pounded, prepared for everything to return, but it didn't. He frowned. "What did you do?"

The skin of her hand twisted for a moment, then was still. Her hand was completely healed. Only the blood on him remained as proof that she'd ever been hurt at all. The glazed, corpse-like look finally dissolved, and she stared out to the man on the hospital bed – no, just behind it. "You have some time. Fix what you have broken, before it's too late." Her face wrenched, almost as if she was trying to smile but forgot how. It looked like a horrible mix of a snarl and a leer. "You cannot stay like that forever. I'm sure you understand what has happened. I know your brilliance," she said, and pointed to her mind. She was clearly not speaking to him.

Suzaku inched forward.

"But I see you will not allow this to be." She sighed, and his sounded phlegm-y. Her body – because even when stepping forward, he knew enough to keep an eye on the woman who'd been trying to kill him all this time – seemed to convulse where she stood. She held out her hands. "Cooperate," she said, and as she did, he finally got around the edge of the hospital bed. And froze.

His breath stilled.

"Cooperate, and I will leave you like this. I will not manipulate you." Her body convulsed again. "Even this will not do," she murmured, and lowered her hands. Suzaku saw it all as if from a dream.

Down on the floor, unmoving, seemingly dead, was Lelouch. His body hadn't decomposed at all.

His waking dream, he thought, his illusions – his false memories. They were real. True. Whatever.

Lelouch. Lelouch was immortal.

He felt something bubbling up inside him. He was too far gone to label it, but he could feel it nonetheless, a surge of something that made his fists clench and his lips pull back. Suddenly he wanted to empty his clip into the man by his feet. He wanted to rip him apart, tear his body into strips until he couldn't possibly put himself together again. He wanted to drag him to the sea and bury him beneath the water.

And what did D.D. mean, 'manipulate'? He turned his gun on her, only because the body below didn't seem to be moving any time soon – oh, but he was an immortal, he could shrug whatever had happened off, couldn't he? Like it was nothing. So much for keeping his promise of dying!

"_Something went wrong."_

The phantom voice of the other world spoke, the words searing, understandable now, and damn him, but his finger on the trigger shook. His heart _hurt_.

D.D. collapsed to the ground.

Suzaku nearly jumped out of his skin. Was there something in the room that was harming immortals? His heart flipped, and damn him, but he turned and fell by Lelouch's side. His hands were nearly on the prone body before he realized just what the hell he was doing. His hands shook inside Zero's gloves. His breath nearly fogged the damn mask. Why the hell was he having such a reaction?

He finally saw the IV bag beside the man's head and realized that Lelouch was visible, just like D.D. He turned to the man on the hospital bed and stood. The IV bag tore in his hands. He heard it squelch out of Lelouch's skin and felt – sick. He took a deep breath. "We need you out of this room. Quickly." He turned to D.D., still prone on the ground. But for how long? He grabbed the man's bed and turned it, quickly putting Lelouch behind the man's head.

"What's going on?" the man asked, and Suzaku looked down on his nearly-bald head. His hands fluttered above a newspaper, where he appeared to have been playing with a puzzle of some sort. "That man down on the ground there suddenly appeared! How is that possible?"

Suzaku let out a long breath. Perhaps the man hadn't noticed. Maybe he'd been too strung out on the thought of someone appearing from nothing. "I'll handle it," he said, not bothering to try to answer questions he couldn't.

The man grunted. "It's a ghost, isn't it? They say the ghost of the soldiers haunt these places."

Or maybe it was because the man was a superstitious idiot. Suzaku nearly heard those words in Lelouch's voice, could imagine the man's haughty smirk, and felt rage boil within him again. He nearly shoved the man out the door, then closed it again. When he turned, both D.D. and Lelouch were twitching.

He turned his gun and shot them both.


	12. Personal Truths

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark! Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

"_Only the forgotten are truly dead."_

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Eleven

Personal Truths

* * *

><p>"Truths and roses have thorns about them."<p>

~ Henry David Thoreau

* * *

><p>The news spread like wildfire, but honestly, that was most likely because Shinichiro caught wind of it and let it fly full sail.<p>

"I always told you, didn't I?" the man preened, and Kallen stared at him as she led Nunnally out of the hospital. Apparently there was nowhere safe; Zero had been found fighting the immortal woman, and he'd locked himself in the hospital room with her. The Knights were saying it was to buy time for Lady Nunnally's and Tianzi's departures, and Kallen didn't bother to wonder otherwise. Her job was to protect Nunnally, then get to Zero's side. Nothing else mattered.

"Yes," someone said, responding to Shinichiro's question, their voice that of long suffering. "You did."

Somehow, Shinichiro managed to stick his nose further into the sky. "I always told you that Zero was our buddy! You should have listened to me. Who else would cry over us?" And Shinichiro teared up, too. "Ah! Zero! Let me in there with you!"

Despite the resigned looks on the faces of those around him, Kallen thought she saw many people nodding to Shinichiro's words. And when she turned to look at Nunnally, she thought she saw a small smile on the girl's face.

"It seems people are finally starting to accept Zero for who he truly is," she said. Yes. That was definitely a smile on her face.

Kallen didn't know if it was for the man wearing the costume now or the one who'd come before. But she smiled, because it didn't matter. "I agree. It's good to see everyone understand him again."

Nunnally twisted in her seat, her eyes a bit wider. Searching. And she smiled. "Isn't it?" she said simply, and turned back around. But Kallen caught the message, and she felt a mix of shame and deep pride. Because she'd been one of those who had doubted Zero, and she was one of the first to have turned back to him, where she belonged.

Nunnally reached up a hand, gently laying it on top of Kallen's own on the handlebars of her wheelchair, and Kallen smiled down at the small, fragile-looking form before her. She twisted her hand and squeezed the small fingers over her own. Nunnally squeezed back.

* * *

><p>Xingke tapped out a short rhythm against his hip and continued staring at Tianzi. Both she and Toudou were not yet able to safely leave, but they were still being taken from the hospital. A few trusted doctors would come along, as well, and any equipment they could afford to move.<p>

Had this something to do with the meeting between Zero and the woman? He shook his head. While he doubted they'd planned the attack, it could also easily be true that they only had the attack occur because Emperor Lelouch's woman had come to meet with him, thus leading the other immortal into the building.

It was too early to give in to theories. He needed more evidence. But he couldn't afford to search for answers when Tianzi was in such obvious danger. He needed to at least escort her to the UFN. But could he afford to leave her there unattended? He could hear the Knights talking outside the room. They seemed to be gathering behind Zero again because of a show of sorrow of some sort. Doubtless that was certainly a plan the woman had given him; it was no coincidence that it occurred so quickly after their meeting.

He steepled his fingers and lifted them to his lips. He was most likely alone in his concerns. He could already see how all of this would end. The Knights would fall in line with this concerned Zero, the one who worried over the fate of the people in his charge. How couldn't they? An unflappable man, suddenly broken by his torn needs to protect and defend. They would back him up, help fill the supposed holes left by the fact that he was only one man. Zero would once again have his army.

Was that what all of this was about? But why? Why would Zero want to pull the Knights from Lady Nunnally and the UFN? What was he planning?

A few Knights came in to move Tianzi, and he saw her little eyebrows pulled low as she looked at him. He hadn't even realized she'd awoken. He smiled for her. "I will be back shortly," he said, and turned his gaze on the Knights. "I will find her unharmed."

The Knights straightened where they stood, but one of them scowled. It was the scowl of the righteous; the man was insulted by the idea of anything else occurring. That would work for now.

He stood. He had to get back inside the UFN building. He didn't want to leave Tianzi, but things were too large to just be put off. He looked to Tianzi. Her eyes were wide. He held out his hand, pinky finger out. She looked from it to his face, and he could feel the weight of her consideration just before she reached out and linked her pinky to his.

He'd sworn to get her out of the palace. Now he would ensure the world she saw was one worth seeing.

* * *

><p>Whenever one of them so much as twitched, Suzaku emptied another round in them. The fury was twisting into something even tighter, something he didn't think he had any control over. It nipped and snarled and writhed inside him whenever he looked at Lelouch's prone form, covered by that flimsy cloak, his pale arm loose from the folds and his face peeking out from the cape.<p>

He stood, chest heaving, glaring down at the two immortals on the floor, and he thought for a moment that whatever D.D. did was wearing off, because a headache was starting to pound in his skull. After several tense moments, however, he concluded that it was nothing more than a tension headache.

Tension. He almost laughed, but he feared how he would respond when he heard the distorted noise the mask would produce. He didn't want to hear Zero's voice – Lelouch's voice. He wanted nothing to do with the world Lelouch had created.

Finally he ran out of bullets, and he grabbed the IV line and wrapped it around D.D.'s throat, pulling hard to make sure she would suffocate.

Then he looked at Lelouch and paused. He'd shooed the man in the hospital bed out of the room, so there wasn't much left that he could use to...

He took a deep breath. The burn in his gut changed to that other thing, the thing he didn't want to feel, the thing he couldn't control. He wished he could run his hands over his face, tug at his hair. Maybe just break Lelouch's jaw. And not have it heal up again.

Then those eyes fluttered, and his heart skipped a beat.

Lelouch was opening his eyes.

He didn't think. He only realized what he was doing when he heard the click of the empty chamber. Then he looked at his gun as if it were foreign to him. Was that... really his first response?

Lelouch's eyes fluttered again, and Suzaku saw him wince and burrow his head into the floor. Had he not fully healed yet? And why the hell did a part of him want to reach out and cool what seemed to be flushed skin? It had to be because of the blood on Lelouch's face, on the tiles, on the cloak. Suzaku turned from the sight and tried to find something that would keep Lelouch from moving. His heart hammered as he rearranged the thoughts in his head; he'd been about to think _keep him dead_.

"Before... you try to kill me again."

That voice. Suzaku squeezed his eyes shut and stood still, blood hammering through his veins. He no longer knew how to breathe.

"That wasn't D.D. It... was the unconsciousness."

Suzaku grabbed the first thing he could find – the lamp on the small table beside where the hospital bed should have been. He clenched it tight in his fist, making the leather of the glove squeak just a bit. If nothing else, he could just bludgeon Lelouch to death.

His brain froze once again at that thought.

"It wasn't her." Lelouch's voice was a bit stronger, and Suzaku turned, lamp in hand, not knowing how he could possibly go about beating Lelouch with a lamp until he at least finished screaming at the man. Leluch's chest heaved, as if simply breathing was a chore. His eyes were closed. "I don't know how it happened. I wasn't there."

Wasn't there. Wasn't anywhere. Where the hell had he been for the past year? What had he been doing? Bringing this hell down upon their heads, or playing ghost somewhere, laughing at Suzaku as he went through the motions of pretending to be a symbol of something he wasn't?

He hefted the lamp, but then Lelouch decided to open his eyes.

God. Suzaku squeezed his eyes shut again. This couldn't be happening. They were purple. The usual Lelouch color, and somehow a part of his mind had known, but he was still surprised. They weren't contacts. He already knew that, if only because the image he'd seen, that scene from a movie that had played across his vision, had already told him that. They were his usual eyes. The eyes of an immortal. He – he would be like Charles, Suzaku realized. He would look human save for the tiny piece of him that was stained red, the symbol of Geass etched into his skin.

But Lelouch's eyes were purple, Lelouch-purple, and they were lifted enough to see Suzaku standing over him, ready to bludgeon him to death. Or as close as he could get to it. And god help him, but he saw Lelouch smirk slightly and felt pain and hatred and fear wash over him in ways they hadn't since he'd first seen the mask of Zero fall from Lelouch's bloodied face. "What the hell are you doing alive?" he asked, his voice little more than a hiss. And he saw Lelouch's eyes shift. There was no false humor in that gaze. Just something deeper. Something Suzaku wished he hadn't seen.

"I killed Charles. Even though it was unorthodox, I still did it. And a Geass user can't kill an immortal without becoming an immortal himself."

He knew that. He already knew that, because it was what he'd already been shown. But still Suzaku's heart raced at the information, the knowledge.

"There was a chance it would happen. That things would go wrong."

_Something went wrong._

Lelouch sounded like he didn't care. Like it was nothing. But Suzaku couldn't help but realize that his words were nearly the same, nearly identical, to the words of that Other Lelouch, and that Other Lelouch hadn't sounded nearly so disinterested. The Other Lelouch had almost sounded broken. Like he'd been destroyed the moment he'd woken up and found himself alive. He remembered holding that Lelouch all through the night and into the next, as he finally, finally admitted that he hadn't wanted to remain alive – all the things he'd don...

No!

He shook his head, his eyes wide. He didn't remember any of that. None of that had happened!

He backed away from Lelouch, his hand shaking around the lamp. He lowered it to his side. What the hell was happening? "What about Eternity? What's happened to it? Why is it breaking apart?"

"Eternity?" He _heard_ the confusion in that voice, saw it break across that impassive face. And then understanding dawned, horrible, damning understanding. "The rift I saw. The breaking apart of the world. How do you – C.C. Of course." And he laughed, that horrible laugh that held no humor. Suzaku didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear any of it. "I'm working on that. Just like I'm working on her." And Lelouch nodded toward D.D.'s body, splayed on the ground, the IV tube wrapped around her throat. Lelouch's gaze stayed on her for a moment too long before turning back to Suzaku. "Leave her to me."

"You are no longer Zero," Suzaku gritted out.

Lelouch almost looked surprised at that one, but he recovered quickly. He always did. He apparently always would. "You didn't even realize she was no longer speaking in quotes."

Suzaku opened his mouth. Closed it. Scowled. "I am still the one the people look to."

Lelouch nodded, his face turning slowly serious, as if meeting an equal opponent over a chess board. "You are. You always were." He didn't explain that one, but Suzaku thought he already knew. _I meant it when I said you are everything Zero must be. It can only be you._

That world was completely foreign, completely different from the one he'd lived. But it seemed almost more like a reflection, like a mirror image of what was. And he feared what that might mean, because he had pulled that Other Lelouch into a bruising kiss, and that Lelouch had kissed him back. "You should be dead." Because it was true, and he didn't want it to be, and it needed to be. "What are you doing here?"

"To ensure my investment." Lelouch didn't look away. He didn't even blink. Suzaku had always hated that about him. The only thing that had ever been able to trip him up had been–

"Nunnally knows, doesn't she?" At Lelouch's poker face, Suzaku rounded away from Lelouch, still crouched on the floor, and swirled toward the door, then back, ready once again to beat Lelouch's brains to the floor. "You told her?" _And not me?_ "You got her involved in this."

"She found out when I returned, yes."

"Found out," Suzaku repeated, and scoffed. "No one ever finds out anything unless you want them to."

"You found out about me."

That stopped Suzaku, and he hated that it made the hate inside him roil with that _other_ feeling he didn't want. Because _yes_, he'd found out, and _yes_, Lelouch hadn't wanted him to. Lelouch had kept Suzaku away, pushed him away, and tried to fit Suzaku in a box with the rest of his friends and his false life where they had been _happy_ and the world had been _falling apart_. "And now I've found out about you again."

There was the flash of pain he'd been looking for, yet as soon as he saw it, he hated Lelouch even more. There was no triumph in seeing Lelouch hurting. There was no triumph in knowing Lelouch wanted him in the dark forever. "D.D. needs to be disposed of."

"And she wasn't because you trusted the wrong people."

"I've learned my lesson about trust," Lelouch said, and the words were punctuated by a long stare. Suzaku's heart lurched. "I'm getting rid of her now. If you want Zero to be there, then C.C. or Schneizel can wear the costume until the business is done."

The first flash of emotion was anger – the thought of Lelouch giving the suit to anyone other than himself. Then it was that something else, as he realized Lelouch didn't offer to wear it _him_self. The two emotions warred inside him until he didn't think there was anything left in him to fight with at all. "I'm going."

Lelouch glared at him, and it was the glare that said he was an idiot. He found himself cataloging each look, remembering each expression, like a dying man remembers home. And the realization of that hurt more than anything else so far. Despite the boiling, bubbling feeling in his chest, he still looked on Lelouch like he was a miracle. "You and I cannot be close together. Don't you get it? The tear in the world is somehow connected to us. The two of us – something we did."

"Something _you_ did," Suzaku said, and couldn't believe he in that instant became the same as the rest of the people on the planet, shoving all problems onto Lelouch's shoulders.

"Something I did that involves you," Lelouch said, accepting the blame without a murmur of protest. The roiling thing inside him got hotter, stronger, and Suzaku feared that maybe the hatred inside him wasn't pointed toward Lelouch at all. Bile rose in his throat. "If we remain too close together, whatever she did to you – oh, please, I was still partly conscious at the time, even if I was catatonic – will wear off. Then we'll be back to the headaches and the visions of the torn reality. There are plans enough for you."

"No," Suzaku hissed. Lelouch paused in the act of standing up. "No more plans. No more plots that involve you hiding the truth from me."

Lelouch smirked. "Truth." He almost seemed to be testing out the word. "There's a high demand for that these days." And he looked over to D.D. as he stood. Suzaku stiffened at the comparison. "You want to be a part of this? You do as I say."

Suzaku nearly broke the lamp still clenched in his hand. "No." Lelouch didn't seem surprised by that response, either. The man had already planned this entire conversation, all the possible twists and turns in it, and had already gotten to the result he wanted. So Suzaku stiffened his shoulders and glared. "This is not a debate. I'm going. Period."

Lelouch shimmered in front of him, and that smirk widened. Suzaku lurched as he realized Lelouch had become invisible to the rest of the world. "Good luck with that. Zero." And he tilted his head as if in respect. Suzaku ground his teeth together and wished he had more bullets.

Someone banged on the door. Suzaku jumped. "Zero!" someone called, and Suzaku recognized it as one of Zero's old supporters. The loud, mouthy one. "Zero! Open the door!"

Suzaku turned in time to see Lelouch's smirk widen, and then he turned to the door. The walls here were solid, but the door had a window. Someone – the mouthy one – was peering inside. "Zero!" And the man waved as if Suzaku couldn't have picked him out otherwise. "Come on! Let us help!"

Lelouch snorted, but he'd already crouched beside D.D. and loosened the tubing. She gasped in a breath and snapped her eyes open. The men outside shouted again, and she shimmered and disappeared. Only through watching Lelouch did he know where she was; he knotted the tubing tight once more and looked up. "Aren't you going to get that?" he said, and grinned. That damned, cocky grin that Suzaku had thought he would never see again.

The door burst open. The mouthy one charged through, looked around, then down at the puddles of blood. Suzaku looked down, too, and saw Lelouch heft something up. He snarled, even as Lelouch struggled to pull D.D. out of the room. "Zero! Buddy! Are you hurt?" And the mouthy one crowded Suzaku. A few other Knights poured in, checking the room over, a couple actually shielding him from the front of the room.

"No – wait..."

The last he saw of Lelouch, the man deliberately looked up and sent one final, triumphant smirk his way. Suzaku wanted to scream.

* * *

><p>C.C. arrived in time to see Lelouch huffing and puffing and D.D. slowly coming out of invisibility in the middle of the hospital. Knights were gathering around the premises. "How exactly did you manage to get yourself into this mess?"<p>

Lelouch glared at her. "You will explain this Eternity debacle after you assist me."

Uh-oh.

She cleared her throat and took D.D.'s legs. "Fine. But you owe me a reason to stay through the ensuing aftermath."

Lelouch's snort seemed to bubble up against his better wishes. "Fine. Extra cheese."

"And stuffed crust," she said, trying to sound more authoritative than hopeful.

He sighed. "Fine."

* * *

><p>Chiba fought not to pace. Toudou was already being moved, a doctor staying beside him in case there were complications with his breathing on the way to the UFN. She'd moved to go with him, but Toudou had waved her away. The meaning was clear: watch over Zero. Though it didn't seem necessary at the moment, what with the number of Black Knights suddenly jumping at the chance to protect Zero from the threat he'd found himself fighting off again.<p>

She's stopped one Knight as he made to pass her down the hall long enough to find that Zero had had a small breakdown outside Lady Nunnally's room. Apparently he was worried about whether to stay and protect or go out and defend them from the threat. And this newest attack, occurring just a few paces away from those he's trying to protect, apparently proved that he was taking on too much. "He can't do it all alone," the man had said, and Chiba had let him go, amazed. Just a few days ago, they'd been fighting on their own, the Black Knights wary of Zero's existence.

"Oh, Toudou," she said, and she smiled. He'd known. He'd known exactly the kind of person Zero was from the moment of his return.

She turned to leave, then turned back to the hall, resolute in her orders but unable to act on them.

Then she saw Xingke leave Tianzi's room.

She jerked. Tianzi was about to be moved, as well, right after Toudou, who was closest to the door. Why would the man leave her side before she was safely transported? Where could he possibly be going? He wasn't close to Zero; he couldn't possibly be going to protect Zero before seeing to Tianzi's safety first. So what was he doing?

She looked back, for a second, debating whether or not to abandon her post, then turned again. Toudou had always kept an eye on Xingke. Obviously he was concerned about the Chinese man's loyalties.

She followed.

* * *

><p>Xingke carefully avoided the most congested passages in the hospital. It became more of a challenge once the police finished calming the residents of the rest of the hospital and moved to help protect the injured Tianzi and Lady Nunnally. It burned deep inside him to leave her with so many unknowns, but there were things he needed to check before the evidence was wiped away. He may already be too late. That green-haired woman might have already moved to eliminate all evidence of Zero's treachery.<p>

He had to wait in the lobby for several minutes as people were moved from the Black Knights' wing of the hospital to other empty rooms. One man was very obnoxiously raving about having met with Zero just before the fighting began.

But as he turned from the man's obnoxious praise, he saw the hospital handicapped-accessible door swing open – with no one going in or out.

The green-haired woman?

He narrowed his eyes and watched for a moment, then walked forward as if to simply leave the building. No one stopped him. He didn't bump into anything on the way out.

Which way was she headed? Was she heading to the Embassy, where Xingke himself planned to head? Or was she going somewhere else to enact the next part of whatever plan she and Zero had concocted?

The hospital entrance opened straight into a parking lot. On the left was a large, open space by the entrance, made to facilitate the expedition of people from emergency vehicles. One ambulance sat empty there, three people off to its side, speaking in low murmurs. The parking lot, however, had three different groups of people walking to or from the hospital, and two different, separate individuals. One was hobbling alone with a cast and crutches, and the other, an older woman, was making her slow way to the doors. The three groups consisted of one family, walking slowly as if in mourning, a group of three older gentlemen, and a couple unlocking their car door.

All in all, there was plenty of space to hide without anyone having to alter their stance or move away. But he continued watching, because he doubted wherever the immortal woman needed to go, she had enough time on her hands to walk. The bus would be out; buses to and from the hospital were almost always crowded, and anyone attempting to remain invisible would be unable to risk being bumped into in such a small, cramped space.

That left a car. The couple leaving theirs would be the easiest target; she could snatch the keys away from them while invisible and take their car before...

It hit him just as he heard the engine rev beside him. The three people talking in low tones suddenly shouted in surprise. The ambulance lumbered out from the parking space beside the hospital and headed toward the road.

He could plainly see that there was no driver in the seat.

He hurried to the three men standing with their mouths open like fish and grabbed their attention with a short wave of his hand. "I need a vehicle to follow that one."

The men just kept looking at him. Useless.

He turned, annoyed that he had no vehicle of his own, having ridden with Tianzi in the back of an ambulance himself. Wherever that ambulance was headed, he was certain the next phase of Zero's operation would be underway. He needed to find out what it was. Obviously it no longer had to do with garnering support; the man now had more than he would ever need. And it couldn't be to catch the other immortal woman, since that plan had been underway before the green-haired immortal had ever met up with Zero. There had to be something new, a new plan or a new development. Something that necessitated sympathy from the Black Knights. Something to do with the UFN? He needed to find out before Tianzi arrived at that so-called sanctuary.

He turned just in time to see someone duck back into the entrance of the hospital. He narrowed his eyes. Someone was following him. Very well. He could easily lead them on a goose chase.

But as he turned away again, he saw who was watching him and paused. Toudou's shadow, Nagisa Chiba. And he rearranged his plan. Leading her on might not be necessary. He could send along his own information, and could gain more knowledge of who was corrupt and who wasn't. Two birds with one stone. That worked just fine for him.

Acting as if he hadn't seen a thing, he hurried to the parking lot and broke into a car, quickly hotwiring the old machine. He took just enough time for Chiba to commandeer her own ride before backing out of the parking lot and heading into the street.

There were countless places the immortal may have headed, but there were only nine roads within the first two block radius of the hospital. He had enough time to find her again.

* * *

><p>Lelouch's hands shook as he quickly injected ketamine into D.D.'s bloodstream, not remotely caring if he pushed her into Stage 4 anesthesia, and he cursed out his weakness. He tripped over untying the damn IV cord from around her neck. An unconscious woman could be explained away once she inevitably became visible once more – already she was flickering back into visibility – but an obviously strangled woman couldn't.<p>

He closed his eyes and leaned his head down, nearly thumping it into the unconscious woman's stomach as C.C. hit a bump in the road. Suzaku. He'd known any reunion with the man would be a disaster. He'd known Suzaku would want to rectify the mistake made by Geass' curse in letting him live. He'd known.

He opened his eyes. There was no point in being upset over being pumped full of bullets by Suzaku. It was just about what he'd expected. When he'd imagined meeting Suzaku again, he'd never allowed himself any sort of dream-like illusion that there would be happiness or relief.

His treacherous heart, however, was insistent on feeling hurt, anyway.

He had never been under the illusion that the reason Suzaku had agreed to help him complete his plans had been because Suzaku had forgiven or come to understand him. He'd known it had been for the sake of the world that Suzaku had allowed himself to become part of the corruption Lelouch spread. Not for Lelouch. Suzaku had made it clear in the World of C. _You killed Euphie. _Lelouch would never be forgiven for that sin – nor should he be. Suzaku had only called a temporary truce. Only because Lelouch had promised his death had Suzaku been all right with the ending Lelouch had created. Of course he would have a problem with Lelouch's return.

He watched D.D. for a moment, unsure as to whether she would recover from the ketamine faster because she was an immortal or if the unconsciousness would return to her body. It had seemed as if the process of taking over a body – or perhaps of leaving the World of C – was an exhausting one, and thus the unconsciousness was limited to only a few hours or so before being unable to maintain the effort any longer. That worked for him; it had seemed as if the unconsciousness had been impervious to physical limitations, and he knew of no mental ones beyond the ability to Geass it. Whatever the unconsciousness truly was. It had been hinted that the unconsciousness was the collective minds of all the people who had died, or who had once existed. Somehow, this collection had immense power.

If that power was being brought into play against Zero and himself, then their problems had just increased catastrophically.

He rubbed his head. "Start explaining, C.C."

She allowed herself to become visible and glanced back at him for a moment. "We're heading for the docks, correct?"

He lifted his chin. "Yes. Did you get the outfit?"

"No, but I gave Schneizel that secret message of yours, 'the fall of Babel'? It was all I could do; you know Schneizel won't listen to me."

Lelouch nodded. It would once again slow down their progress, but it wasn't impossible to recover from. He tapped his leg. "We need a phone."

C.C. hummed. "Pay phone for now?"

Lelouch shook his head. "No. That would be a waste of time. Find a red light beside a store. I'll take care of it and meet up with you at the docks – find an unused warehouse if you can. And C.C.?" He waited until she looked back at him again. "I mean it when I say you will tell me everything."

There was no concern in her eyes; the woman was a master at hiding herself, after all. Perhaps that was one of the reasons they got along so well; two people who hid themselves from everyone recognized the mask of another. "I understand, Lelouch."

He lifted his chin. "You have a lot to make up for, witch."

She grinned, recognizing the forgiveness that didn't exist in his tone. "I know."


	13. Fate

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Twelve

Fate

* * *

><p>"Why must we meet, why must we part,<br>why must we beat this yoke of MUST,  
>Without our leave or asked or given,<br>by tyrant Fate on victim thrust?"

~ Sir Richard Francis Burton

* * *

><p>The first thing he did when he got himself and C.C. new phones was to call a number he'd memorized over a year ago. He stood on the corner of the street, carefully invisible, and tapped one restless foot while he scanned the cars driving past. C.C. had quickly realized she was being followed, and he had no doubt of who it could be. No one else would bother following at a sedate pace behind them save for one person.<p>

He thinned his lips. He'd been right to assume that Xingke would choose to become a player rather than a pawn. The man never had taken instructions well, not even when they were issued straight to him. The man was a thorn in his side.

Still, Lelouch could almost thank him. He needed something to think about – something to keep his mind occupied – or else he would start going mad, reliving his reunion with Suzaku. Give him another encounter with the unconsciousness. Give him a gunfight with Xingke on the streets. Give him anything. Anything at all.

Finally, someone on the other end answered the phone. "Ah. I was about to call you, Your Highness."

Lelouch smiled. It was a smile of a man with nothing to lose. It was a smile of victory. "It's been a while, Agent Orange."

* * *

><p>Chiba tapped her finger on the steering wheel. Xingke was following an ambulance. It wasn't difficult to figure out; ambulances stood out, and Xingke was always about three or four cars behind it, or beside it, at all times. Was Zero in it? She wanted to race out and snatch Xingke, pull him away from whatever Zero may be doing. Only needing to find out his plans stopped her.<p>

The drive was long, and tedious, and more than once, she found that they were heading down a road they'd already traveled. The driver of the ambulance seemed to have found out about Xingke. Soon they seemed merely to be having a war on gas mileage, and Chiba sighed. If Zero was steering the ambulance, he was merely waiting for those who'd rushed to the hospital to run out of gas.

Or, she realized as they finally reached the congested traffic of rush hour, perhaps waiting instead for this.

Suddenly the ambulance's sirens were blaring, and while it quickly outstripped the lines of cars, she and Xingke were left swiftly behind. She sighed. Thank goodness; whatever Zero was doing, it was obviously something none of them were supposed to know. And while she might have reservations about what that something might be, Toudou didn't. And if someone like him wasn't concerned, then she had no reason to be, either.

Which meant that, at least for now, Xingke's initial plan had been thwarted. But he was bound to have a back-up one, and she grew even more cautious as he moved to the right lane, staying five cars back and to the left, waiting until he'd turned to demand she go into the next lane and follow. Whatever he was planning, she would find out.

And after she found out, she would report to Toudou. And if he was still unavailable, she would go to Zero the first chance she got. She tapped her hand on the wheel as she stayed so far behind Xingke she could only see his side mirror. And when she was done reporting, she just might be brash enough to demand an explanation from the masked man.

She snorted. Yeah, right.

* * *

><p>"It worked, but I'm nearly out of gas." C.C. hardly bothered to watch where she drove; even with the sirens now off again, people still gave the ambulance far more leeway than they did the other cars. Human instincts were interesting; they developed the most useless of habits.<p>

"That's fine. Just get to the docks, and Schneizel will take it the rest of the way."

Which meant Lelouch had put that handy new disposable cell phone to use; she wondered if he'd gotten a better one than she, having been forced to leave the ambulance for fifteen minutes and grab whatever one was in the nearest shop herself. "Is everything ready?"

"Ready enough," he said, evasive enough to tell her he was still struggling. So she already knew what was coming, even before he spoke. "Explain."

She sighed. It wasn't like she could even fully understand it; simply because she was more used to everything didn't mean she was a walking encyclopedia of information. "The collective unconsciousness is the soul of all those who have come before. Roll your eyes all you want," she said, knowing that was exactly what he was doing, "but soul is the best word we have in our language to describe it. The mind, its knowledge and memories, its hopes and emotions, they are all collected into the unconsciousness after a person's death. They don't just disappear; you should know that. Nothing in this world is ever created or destroyed, remember?"

Lelouch huffed, but was silent, awaiting more information. As if she had it all to just hand over to him! Her pizza better be extra-large. "So all of that, together – I never really thought of it as anything other than a collection of ideas and thoughts, you know? All of it together, somehow it contains a vast amount of power. A bunch of wishes, pushing and pulling on each other. It's said to be the birthplace of the Geass. Geass is, after all, simply a stronger version of a person's hopes." She steered around someone who didn't seem half aware of his environment; he blinked owlishly at the site of the ambulance passing his car. Yes, sir, she thought, you really are going that slowly. "Apparently, it all bundled into a sort of... conscious... unconsciousness."

This time, Lelouch sighed.

C.C. grimaced. "It has abilities granted from such desires, but I never suspected sentience. That was something you alone discovered."

"You yourself said that it was a collective unconsciousness. If something is unconscious, it is alive."

C.C. blinked. Even though she'd heard it called that, not once had she thought that had to be the case. It was a blob. A very large, column-like, ugly blob. Which apparently had a mind – minds? – of its own.

"I already know the unconsciousness is alive, C.C. I want to know why it's after me, and why Eternity is splitting apart."

"I didn't know it could even leave. I thought the Sword of Akasha contained it."

"Over time, with the number of people on the planet now, it's unsurprising that the Sword can no longer contain it." Lelouch sighed. She imagined him, eyes closed, chess pieces or something moving around in his head. "The Eternity. Explain it."

She cleared her throat. She could see the docks in the distance, the sea spread out ahead of her, snatches of it seen between the warehouses and storage containers. Ships lined the docks, swam in the deeper rivers, seeming almost to be floating on the roofs of the warehouses, the water tiny lines shimmering toward the horizon. Lelouch had loosed vermin in one of the warehouses, forcing people to clear it out for an extermination. She headed to the second pier and tried to organize her thoughts. "Eternity isn't really the best phrase, but that's what it's called. Humanity's lifetime, or perhaps the timeline of the very Universe's lifespan. I don't know. But as long as life has existed, Eternity has existed. More than wishes, it's the inevitabilities caused by these desires. Say a rich man wants more money, and a poor man wants to feed his family. The rich man will give the poor man a little bit of money to make him something, which he will sell for a higher price than he paid the poor man. Thus, both get what they wish for. Their wishes forced such a world, such an ending."

"And so some decision I or Suzaku have made is one that was not possible based on our wishes." Lelouch, as usual, had connected the dots.

"Something like that," C.C. agreed. "Most likely a decision made by one of you _about_ one or the other." But she needn't have spoken; with the scant amount of information she'd provided, Lelouch had apparently already figured it all out. She could hear it all clicking inside his head. She didn't even have a chance to say anything else before he started barking out orders. As usual.

"Once you've left the ambulance and ensure D.D.'s continued pliancy, lock her in a containment unit. It won't stop the unconsciousness if it takes her over again, but it will give us a little time. If she escapes, stay on her, but don't engage. Instead, contact me. Do not bother Agent Orange; he'll be taking care of our other interested party."

Despite the fact that she knew his sense of melodrama was the reason she had to ask, she asked anyway. "And what about you?"

"I'll be heading to you. The unconsciousness won't wait much longer to return, since I have no interest in doing as it instructed."

* * *

><p>The Embassy was a sort of controlled chaos, the wide lobby filled to the brim with security personnel. The perimeter had been secured just an hour ago, the last of the tourists pushed off the property by the Knights. A few of the ambassadors of other countries had already made arrangements to arrive, having decided the Embassy, though closer to the mayhem, was better fortified against any attacks than their own homes. But while arrangements had been made, the earliest arrival there wasn't for another few hours. And before that, Nunnally, Tianzi, and Toudou all arrived.<p>

Nunnally watched the Knights as they gathered around her, Tianzi, and Toudou, who had yet to awaken from whatever ordeal he'd been through. While Suzaku had gone to presumably chase after the white-haired demon (as she'd been labeled), the Knights had all formed a sort of protective barrier around her and the others. Ever since Suzaku had lost his composure for some reason in the hospital, the Knights had stepped up to help. Tseveral of them led Toudou and Tianzi down a side path, doctors trailing after them, wringing their hands over the movement of their patients and the sudden weight placed on their professional shoulders, and took the two somewhere to recuperate safely. And now they escorted her, Kallen still holding the handles of her wheelchair, and searched the small, thinned crowd as they made their way through the grounds, into the lobby, and past security. And once they were inside, they found themselves directly in the congress room, and before them stood Kaguya and a small band of Knights.

Nunnally smiled, and Kaguya was forced by political etiquette to smile back. It was clear it was not by choice. While Kaguya had never shown Nunnally any cruelty or rudeness, she had also never shown her any kindness. Of course, Nunnally knew, it was due to the supposed betrayal by her brother.

But Kaguya was good, as any of her brother's allies must have been, and she greeted them as warmly as possible. "Lady Nunnally. It's a pleasure to see you well." She frowned. "I heard about Empress Tianzi and Kyoshiro-san." Nunnally smiled at the Japanese honorific. "Are they well?"

Nunnally nodded. "They are injured, but they are both expected to make a full recovery. Thank you for opening your home to us. I know we've not been on the best of terms with one another. Your hospitality is greatly appreciated. I'm grateful." Nunnally bowed her head.

Kaguya, Nunnally saw when she lifted her head again, flushed. "It's nothing," she said. "I understand Zero himself has been having trouble with this one."

It was an obvious dig for information, and Nunnally smiled gently for her. It wasn't her fault she was bitter. It wasn't Lelouch's, either. It was the world's, its weaknesses, its flaws, that forced people to hurt, to betray, to abandon. Kaguya felt the pain of losing someone she loved to ambition. It was natural to expect the same supposed greed from others. "Zero can't protect and defend at the same time," Nunnally said, gently rebuking the woman for her inaction. She flushed again. Nunnally acted as if she hadn't made any such aspersions, and acted, too, as if she couldn't see the shamed flush on Kaguya's cheeks. "The Knights have offered of themselves to stop the woman."

"She works as a survivor of Emperor Lelouch's?"

Nunnally shook her head. Another attempt to insult her brother. She wouldn't allow it, no matter what her brother had been willing to sacrifice. "No. She works alone, as far as we can tell. We've all been targeted by her thus far." She lowered her voice. "If it weren't for your Knights, I don't know that we would be safe right now."

Another rebuke, along with a shift in subject, and Kaguya nodded, finally letting it go. "You must be exhausted. Please feel free to rest and regain your strength. We'll watch over you."

Nunnally nodded. Even if Kaguya had reservations, it wouldn't matter in the long run. The Knights had already made their decisions. If Kaguya went against their wishes, she would only create a rift between them and her, and that was the last thing she would want to do. The last rift had been from Zero and toward Ohgi and her. Another rift, sending them back to Zero, would not only shift the tenuous balance Lelouch had created, but would also leave Kaguya and Ohgi without their famed army of justice. While that may help Zero in the short term, it would not help the world in the long run. The Knights needed to stand apart from politics, and Zero had thrown his lot in with Nunnally. If the Knights joined with him, thus siding with her, as well, the balance would tip once more into the hands of Britannia. It would start a spiral effect that would take them all back into war.

Kaguya and Nunnally would have to work carefully from now on in order to keep that from happening.

Kaguya's gaze slipped, for a moment, behind Nunnally, finally landing on Kallen. Nunnally waited patiently for whatever silent conversation was passing between them before speaking again. "We'll take you up on your offer," she said. "Thank you again for sending your Knights out to us. They've saved us."

Kaguya lifted her chin, finally understanding just what it was that Nunnally was doing. Instead of making it seem as if the Knights had defected, she was changing it to Kaguya's personal choice to help them until the immortal woman was taken care of. Kaguya nodded. "They'll make sure you're safe while you rest, as well. I won't have any chances taken."

Another short look between Kaguya and Kallen, and Nunnally knew her brother's old classmate would be stopping to speak with her before she met up with Zero. Once they were away from Kaguya, Nunnally reached up and touched Kallen's arm. The woman grunted from behind her. Nunnally didn't say anything, just rested her hand over Kallen's hand, giving her silent blessing to say and do whatever she needed. From the sudden tension she could feel in Kallen's hand, the woman seemed to have understood.

* * *

><p>"I hate and I love. Why I do so, perhaps you ask. I do not know, but I feel it and I am in torment."<p>

~ Catullus

* * *

><p>Suzaku had begun to doubt himself by the time the ambulance finally came. The boat still sat in the water, right where he'd left it, locked until such time as he himself undid the boat's mooring. At first he'd come merely because he'd known it to be the only place where Lelouch would almost certainly need to return, but then he'd seen someone he'd thought looked like Schneizel. He hadn't bothered greeting the man. He was dressed as Zero, yes, and the puppet was nothing more than a mindless slave to him, but he suspected Lelouch had been in contact with the man. And if that was the case, then he wanted to see just what it was that Schneizel had been ordered to do.<p>

But the blond had merely stood in place for several hours, not quite in front of the boat, but instead about two boats over, his clothes dirty and disheveled, as if he'd been crawling around on the streets for days. The old Schneizel wouldn't have been seen dead in such ragged garments, but now he seemed completely unaware. And most likely would remain unaware, until the moment Zero or Lelouch ordered him to change his garb. What had he been doing? Where had he gone? What exactly was he waiting for now?

The ambulance, when it came, came with its sirens off, and it stopped right beside a warehouse. It was a bit away, but Schneizel turned to it, and so Suzaku sneaked off to investigate.

The warehouse was abandoned, even though the warehouse just next to it seemed to be crawling with people heading in and out. Suzaku quickly noted the placement of the ambulance, keeping it hidden from the dock workers on the opposite side of the building. Which meant that someone – Lelouch? he wondered with a gut-clenching twist – was trying to keep whatever it was they were doing hidden. Schneizel came up then, and Suzaku had to plaster himself up against a small boat to keep from being seen. He saw the man head into the back of the ambulance, and then a few moments later, he exited with a gurney rolling in front of him. He headed into the warehouse, and then a few moments later, the ambulance started up again and rolled out.

His heart tripped for several long seconds as he wondered if, perhaps, the white-haired woman had woken up and hurt Lelouch. And then he was angry all over again, because he'd found himself, for those short moments, wholly unable to breathe. And then he realized that Lelouch had been awake and dragging an unconscious immortal woman with him, and the ambulance suddenly seemed to be the perfect way to hide such an unconscious creature, and it was almost certain that the one on the gurney was her, not him. And he was angry all over again, because he shouldn't have cared, and Lelouch was once again hiding his plans from Suzaku, and he wouldn't let it happen again.

He stormed up to Schneizel as he left the building, locking it behind him. "Schneizel." The man snapped to attention, his eyes as blank as ever. Suzaku pushed away his disgust. "Relay my orders back to me."

"You ordered me not to say it, not even to you."

Suzaku closed his eyes. Of course. How could he think he could outwit Lelouch? And damn the man for it all. "Then tell me what you can."

Schneizel remained silent.

Right. Suzaku wanted to kick something. "Carry on, then." And Suzaku would be reduced to watching the puppet lackey to see what Lelouch was planning.

He didn't know how long it was he waited; he didn't have a way of measuring time. Lelouch, most likely, hadn't needed it; the bastard had been pretty good and figuring out when and where. But him? No, Nunnally needed to ask for more clocks in the UFN to surreptitiously help him out. So it was for an unknown length of time that he waited before something else finally happened; the door to the warehouse opened on its own, with no visible person controlling it. At first he thought it must have been C.C, or perhaps Lelouch. But he remembered suddenly how he'd seen both of them, and how C.C. had seemed annoyed but resigned to it. No, the only immortal he couldn't see was D.D.

So much for 'taking care of it.'

Suzaku slipped out from his hiding spot by the boats, then hesitated. He had no way of finding her if she was invisible. He could only sense her when she attacked, and even then, only due to Lelouch's old curse. Without it, he would be working blindly, running anywhere and everywhere without cause. But what else could he do?

No matter what Lelouch said, he wasn't stupid. He just wasn't a genius. Not many people were. But even he could figure out that Lelouch wouldn't have let D.D. go, and he would have attempted to stop whatever it was that had happened last time. Lelouch, being an immortal himself – and he would try to ignore just how furious that made him all over again – would know how to detain one of his own kind. So that left the... the whatever-it-was. And that thing had actively sought him out.

Would acting as some sort of bait get the thing within reach? Would it be willing to answer any of his questions? It hadn't seemed too interested in talking to him last time, but he thought he might have been the target only to keep those headaches from hurting him for a time. Maybe if he asked, he could get some information. Information on how Lelouch became immortal, how Suzaku might be able to rectify the situation (though he would not yet think about trying to get Lelouch killed again, he wouldn't, he couldn't, not yet, one step at a time), or maybe just explain what the hell those strange flashes of an alternate reality were. Why, for instance, he and Lelouch had kissed, or why Lelouch had felt it safe to return to him, when he obviously didn't feel safe doing so in the real reality.

Real reality. He put a hand to his head, even though it thunked uselessly against the stupid mask. How ridiculous had his life become that he even so much as thought such a thing?

But even as he stood undecided, the woman shimmered into form before his eyes. She turned to him.

It was not the same stare as before. This was not the woman who had made his headaches go away. His curse – Lelouch's Geass – flared in warning.

He backed up a single step, testing the Geass. Another warning, sharper than the first. So backing off was not an option. She would become even more infuriated if he tried that. So what? Attack? But no; his Geass flared even higher at the very idea. Forward? He lifted his chin. "I have questions for you."

The woman stopped moving. The sun burned behind him, ready to set upon the waters beyond the docks. It turned her white hair golden, an almost burnt orange. "You have questions, yes, but they are not for my ears." She stepped forward, and while the feeling of danger rippled all around him, it was not a danger that said he was about to die. Not yet.

Then he saw C.C, running toward him and cursing, and the danger flared brightly again, and he was no longer certain if the danger was from the white-haired immortal or the green-haired one. He tensed, ready to fight or flee. Whatever Lelouch's Geass demanded of him. "You know the answers, though. Who else would I ask?"

She stood silent as C.C. raced to her, and he snarled. "No. I won't ask him." He would sooner die than turn to Lelouch for anything.

"You know more truths now than before," she said. "That is this child's fault." And she gestured down to her own body, even though it wasn't hers at all. It wasn't hers. Just as Lelouch had said. This woman was not speaking in quotes. "But one can be forgiven her sins if the world stabilizes once more." D.D. stepped toward him, and finally C.C. charged in front of her, her hands out as if to shield him. It startled him back a step – this time, the retreat lowered the scream of the Geass in his mind. D.D, however, looked unsurprised at all, and not nearly concerned. "Move, child."

"I cannot," she said, and he thought he might have actually seen her lip quiver. The tension in him skyrocketed. "I know you want to fix things. That's understandable. But this man is not the one you need to speak with."

D.D. raised her head. Though she was short, shorter than C.C, she seemed somehow to tower over her. Suzaku got the feeling he was witnessing something far more than himself. He stood in front of something he couldn't understand, something more like an inevitability than a person or place. He'd felt this before, in the World of C, trapped in it, looking upon something he couldn't comprehend. But he remembered Lelouch standing before the very same thing, and instead of feeling awe or doubt, he felt nothing but his usual confidence, his determination forcing the world to be a he willed it, demanding a force beyond himself to bow to him. And so he stepped forward, hand twitching to his gun, and said, "tell me what those visions are. Tell me why they come to me."

And D.D. looked at him and smiled. "You see it because it is what should be. The inevitable, destroyed by the impossible."

It didn't make any sense. But he stepped forward again, anyway, even though the Geass started to rage. He was getting too close to C.C. And worse, someone, probably one of the nearby dock workers, seemed to have seen him. He heard the name 'Zero' being called. "I don't understand."

"Talking to the wrong person," C.C. said, and this time he saw her smirk as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Yours will not listen." D.D. flexed her fingers. "You will move."

"She won't."

They all turned. Suzaku wasn't the only one. Lelouch commanded the attention of everyone everywhere he went. It had nothing to do with how miraculous hearing his voice seemed, or how Suzaku found himself remembering that stupid kiss, the desperation, the relief, the power that surged through him as if tasting ambrosia. When he finally came back to... to the real reality, D.D. was smirking, too.

"So very sorry for the delay," the bastard said, that horrible smirk lighting his entire face. As if the world really was a chessboard and he had already envisioned his victory. "What exactly is it you wish me to call you? Unconsciousness? God?"

Suzaku heard the mocking tone on that last one so strongly he was amazed Lelouch hadn't burst into a fit of laughter. But D.D. merely said, "Wisdom."

The smirk widened. "Really." Lelouch didn't look at him. Not once. Suzaku felt red-hot of a sudden. Without any conscious notice from his brain, his gun was in his hand. This time Lelouch did take notice of him. His smirk disappeared.

"A person's heart creates a wish. Every heart, every wish, touches another heart. Another wish." D.D. looked from Lelouch to Suzaku, ignoring C.C. as if she didn't exist. Those pale blue eyes caught on Suzaku, on the gun. "So many wishes, until only one future remains."

"And yet I broke Eternity. I created the impossible." There was far too much pride for that statement to be anything other than a pat on the back. Suzaku snarled. Lelouch did not look at him again.

"The scales have been tipped. The balance is gone." Wisdom, in D.D.'s body, lifted one hand. Lelouch tensed, and gods help him, Suzaku did, too, in response. "It must be fixed."

Lelouch didn't seem surprised or concerned by the woman's words. He didn't even say anything to her words, as if they weren't worth deigning a reply. Suzaku finally realized that whatever the Wisdom immortal woman was saying, Lelouch had already known. For how long? He'd seemed genuinely surprised when Suzaku had spoken of Eternity – of course, Lelouch was such a brilliant liar, how could Suzaku ever be sure of the truth with him?

D.D. took a step toward C.C. The green-haired woman actually took a short step back, keeping herself just out of arm's reach. Lelouch frowned. "I will not have you jeopardizing everything," he said. Amazingly, the white-haired woman turned. "You want to talk to me of fate and the inevitable? Then hear this: anyone or anything that stands in the way of my work will be destroyed." He held out one hand, covered his face as he had with the Geass so many times, and said, "if I must, I will create a brand new world, one without your archaic rules. Now begone, or else I'll burn that body you're in to ashes."

Wisdom lifted her chin. "You will fix the crack in Eternity."

"Or else?"

"You will fear more than the destruction of your lies, Bearer of Love."

Lelouch lifted a brow at the nickname. Still, Suzaku recognized the tension in Lelouch's fingers, the almost-squinted look of his eyes, as he found himself trapped in corner. Suzaku didn't understand most of whatever it was that was going on right before his eyes, but even he could understand the threat. And while he hated Lelouch, hated the fact that he'd once again lied to Suzaku, Suzaku would never allow all the deaths and sacrifices to mean nothing. If this woman planned to destroy everything everyone had worked for – Suzaku, Lelouch, Euphie, Shirley. So much loss, so much suffering, all to achieve the tenuous peace they had now.

Suzaku skirted around, away from C.C., closer to D.D.'s side. While Lelouch's Geass hummed in the back of his mind, it didn't flare. Whatever this woman wanted at the moment, it wasn't his death. Not yet.

"The more you fight the inevitable, the more this world will crumble. Already your recalcitrance costs you." And her gaze turned once more on him. Suzaku paused. Lelouch froze.

There was finally a reaction in Lelouch, in those shimmering lines that could only mean that, while Suzaku saw him, no one else could. He waved a hand. C.C. cleared her throat and lifted hers, as well. "I will not have you getting in the way anymore."

"Eternity is not fluid," Wisdom said, unconcerned with whatever offense the two were concocting. "Wishes make the world inevitable. You have wishes, as well, Lelouch vi Britannia. Reach for them. That is what your Geass was for. I will not be so polite a third time."

And the woman collapsed, right there in the middle of the dock. Lelouch grimaced as C.C. flipped open a phone and called for someone. She looked over to Suzaku. "You should go," she said. "I can feel the tension in the air."

So could he. It made the Geass inside him itch. "I'm not going anywhere. You're going to explain to me exactly what's going on here."

Lelouch smirked. "I see you're finally getting the grasp of how to speak as Zero."

It nearly made him charge up to the man and kick him. His finger on the trigger flinched. "You speak about Eternity now as if you know it. I'm not letting you leave until you tell me."

Lelouch snorted; it was such a familiar sound, that arrogant breath, that Suzaku felt something in him curl like a great weight. "I told you I'm taking care of it."

C.C. snapped her phone closed. "He's on his way."

"And you should be on yours, Suzaku." His name in that voice made Suzaku shake. He'd thought he'd never hear it again. And it was cruel, torturous, to hear it again when he knew he shouldn't.

But was that even true? It had sounded like that other world that he kept glimpsing was the one that was supposed to exist. So did that mean that he and Lelouch were supposed to have been together this entire time? That they should have been kissing like that?

He flushed to the roots of his hair. Thank everything for the mask.

But it didn't seem to make a single difference; Lelouch just tilted his head slightly, narrowed his eyes, and said, "are you blushing?"

Suzaku raised his gun. "Of course not!"

Lelouch grinned. "You _are_. Whatever for?"

He was going to kill him! "Explain this, Lelouch, or she won't be the only one eating explosives!"

Lelouch's grin slipped away. He sighed. "You heard her, same as me." There was a beat of silence, in which Suzaku did not admit he hadn't understood, and Lelouch did not make fun of him for it. Suzaku grimaced as an old headache started pounding across his temples. "The Geass is nothing more than a wish granted to someone. A powerful wish, yes, one able to manipulate the wishes of others. But a wish. How do wishes come about?" Another beat of silence. Another sigh, this one a bit more long-suffering. Suzaku's finger trembled on the trigger. "People, Suzaku. People wish. The unconsciousness I Geassed was the conglomerate of all people who came before us. Every single person who has died. _People_. And the unconsciousness is the power from which the Geass is born. Do you understand?"

No, not at all. Suzaku gripped his gun tight and wondered if it wouldn't be best to shoot now. Would shooting Lelouch stop the headache? The one he knew, without doubt, would cause another one of those odd visions? Possibly. But if he shot Lelouch, then he would never get any answers. "So because you Geassed time, you broke it?"

Lelouch sighed again. Suzaku had to use every ounce of control to not drill one into the man's skull.

_But the blood_. No, he would not think about Lelouch bleeding.

"No, I didn't break Eternity by using my Geass. Apparently, I made a decision I couldn't have." Lelouch snorted, but then ran a hand through his hair. Such a rare movement. Suzaku only remembered a handful of times he'd ever seen it. Damn him, but it made the anger grow and lessen, all at once. "Fate," Lelouch spat. "The idea that some things are inevitable. But I didn't act as fate decreed, and now..." Lelouch waved a hand in Suzaku's direction. "Now I have this."

"_We_ have this."

Lelouch blinked at Suzaku's hiss, and this time, at least, that hateful smirk didn't cross those lips. The urge to kiss them, to make sure the smirk never returned, made Suzaku's stomach roll.

Schneizel walked across the space between them without sound or fanfare, picked up the unconscious body of D.D, and made way to the warehouse. C.C. went with him.

It left the two of them alone, and in that short instant before the headache crawled its way to the center of his forehead, he was aware of just how very purple Lelouch's eyes were, and how very much he didn't want to want to shoot him.

* * *

><p>When Toudou awakened, it was to find himself in a darkened room, the only light a small lamp in the far corner. Beside him, Chiba sat, her eyes trained on him. "I followed Xingke to the UFN," she said as he blinked his eyesight clear of sleep. He tried not to tense. After a beat of silence, she continued. "He seemed to be looking for something. I believe, whatever it was, he found it. He headed into Lady Tianzi's room, stayed a few minutes, and then left. When I followed him, it was toward the dumping grounds of Emperor Lelouch."<p>

The man had found out, Toudou realized. He struggled to sit up. Chiba didn't bother trying to get him to lie back down, or to rest. Her eyes were almost bright with the anticipation of battle. "Is he still there?"

She shook her head. "I can't be sure."

He frowned. "Zero?"

She shook her head. "Not here. The Embassy," she said when he furrowed his brows, clearly not quite certain where 'here' was. "From others' accounts, he went after the white-haired woman while the Knights took over guarding Lady Nunnally and the others."

Toudou knew enough to recognize himself as part of the 'others.' So Zero had left? He'd wanted explanations, but now was not the time. Xingke had obviously figured it out, and was most likely looking for the evidence even as he lie uselessly on his bed. If Zero and Lelouch were both working toward capturing or killing the woman, then he would be the one to stop Xingke from getting in their way. It was the only thing he could think to do without getting in their way himself. "Help me up," he said, and he leaned heavily on Chiba as she did. Her face was impassive, even as she obviously struggled not to demand he not push himself. He smiled at her. "We must get to him."

She nodded. "Of course." And she helped him stand.

He ignored the pain, the struggle to breathe, the way his vision fuzzed at the edges as if searching through shimmery cotton. He wouldn't be able to fight well, not like this. "Chiba."

"Of course," she said, already ahead of him. "I will be your legs and arms, sir. As always."

He smiled. Slowly, taking care with his weight, Chiba led him to the door.


	14. Memories Not Their Own

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

Dear Lelouchvibritt1: I hope this sustains you. :)

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Thirteen

Memories Not Their Own

* * *

><p>"For those whom God to ruin has design'd,<br>He fits for fate, and first destroys their mind."

~ John Fletcher

* * *

><p>Lelouch smiled as he fixed the collar around Suzaku's neck – <em>Zero's<em> collar. Leather, purple and supple and _high_. Suzaku felt the weight of the costume even more than the key to Lancelot. Lelouch's fingers lingered on Suzaku's collar. On the skin just below his neck. He didn't speak, even though Suzaku needed to hear his voice. He needed the lie that he wasn't about to... to...

Lelouch must have felt the trembling of his skin, because that smile shifted into something even fonder. "No matter how this ends, Suzaku, remember: only _you_ can be Zero. A part of me knew it from the start. I was a lie, right from the very beginning. But _you_ – you are everything Zero must be." Those eyes caught Suzaku, and as always, the glittering red where purple should have been caught him momentarily by surprise. The helpless anger he usually felt, however, was gone, lost beneath the agony already churning in his breast. Lelouch's fingers tightened on the collar, wrinkling it. "I chose _you_, Suzaku, and I did it for a reason It _has to be you_."

And Lelouch kissed him, and he leaned into it, greedy. Desperate.

When he picked up the sword, it was heavier even that the clothing, the mask. Almost too heavy to lift.

* * *

><p>He stood frozen, Lelouch's blood streaking Zero's mask – <em>his<em> mask, now. His collar was still wrinkled from Lelouch's hands. He thought he could almost feel those thin fingers pulling him closer. He wished he could.

The crowd around him cheered. They called for Zero's name, streamed into the streets. Tears dripped down his face.

"Lelouch."

* * *

><p>Though C.C. knew it would be useless, she had Schneizel hook D.D. up to the ketamine once more, the note that doing so would 'ensure Zero's orders were followed' getting compliance from the giant doll. She watched, wondering if she could get Lelouch to order the man to carry things around while she went shopping; she sorely needed new clothes. Well, <em>need<em> was a hyperbolic term, but she would stick with it.

Then she heard, from outside the dusty building, Lelouch's scream.

She streaked outside, Schneizel watching blankly at her exit. Just outside, she saw Zero – Suzaku – holding his mask and gasping. But Lelouch was on his knees, clutching his head and shouting like the dead. "Lelouch?" She took one step and flinched. Eternity rose around her, shrieking. She struggled back.

She turned to the door. The unconsciousness still resided within the woman, she knew suddenly, as if she knew the secrets of the world. It had merely feigned unconsciousness. And somehow, its presence was making it all worse. She raced back inside. "Schneizel! Move her!" Then she thought better. "No, move Lelouch! Get him away from here!"

But Schneizel didn't move.

"Move, idiot!" She could feel the tension in her now, stronger and stronger with every second that passed. Worsening, worsening, until what? The entire world split apart, broken into what was and what should have been? She clutched Schneizel's arm. "Come _on!"_

The mindless puppet actually shook her off.

Her mouth flapped open like a carp, and thank goodness Lelouch was in too much pain to waltz in and see her with such a lack of comportment.

He wouldn't move. He had been ordered to stay and guard over D.D, and until he was given some other order or his task was accomplished, he wasn't going to move. It was up to her.

But she couldn't get near. Even though she hadn't messed up Eternity – no, she thought, that was one hundred percent Lelouch's fault, and she could, and would, lay the blame squarely at his feet – even though she wasn't involved, nonetheless she was affected by it, had been the one to give him his Geass and allow him the opportunity to become immortal, and maybe they were linked by that, or by the Geass itself, but whatever the case may be, she wouldn't be able to get closer than three meters before she fell into Eternity, just as Lelouch had.

Then, what to do?

She inched her way toward the door. The tension in her thrummed, a living body of nerves outside herself, pushing and pulling at her very existence. She could feel it snapping, sizzling. As if from a great distance, she could even hear the screaming of the multitudes of the souls captured in the unconsciousness. She turned around to look behind her at the prone form on the table. The unconsciousness would not be taken under by such a mortal drug as ketamine; it was how she'd gotten up with such ease. She was far beyond normal humanity, beyond form, a being outside of tangibility. But she would not get up, nor move. She would force this until it broke or – or until Lelouch broke.

And she knew very well that Lelouch would never allow himself to break.

She opened the door and stepped out, losing her mind to the unconsciousness and the memories of the Geass immortals of Before.

* * *

><p>"Lelouch."<p>

That mesmerizing amethyst gaze slid sleepily to him. Lelouch looked Suzaku up and down, and a smirk slipped onto those lips. Suzaku wanted to kiss it off him. "You look debauched," Lelouch said.

"I was," Suzaku said, and that smirk widened. This time, Suzaku did kiss it off; they connected like lightning, just as they had the night before, celebrating what shouldn't have been possible, what by all rights should never have happened again. Suzaku threaded his hands in Lelouch's hair, amazed at the old feel, the silkiness now that Lelouch was clean again. He thrust his tongue deep into Lelouch's mouth, the most effective way to shut the brilliant man up Suzaku had ever found, and Lelouch curled into him, his tired body struggling to match Suzaku's stamina. Suzaku lifted his lips free and laughed into Lelouch's shoulder. Lelouch stiffened.

"Shut up."

Suzaku couldn't help it; he curled one hand into a fist within that dark mass of hair and shook, trying to muffle his laughter in case anyone passed the room from the hallway. Still, he couldn't help but delight, even as Lelouch pushed uselessly against Suzaku's hold. He couldn't find the breath to tell Lelouch that it wasn't his physical limitations that was making him so jubilant, but the very fact that he could experience them again.

He couldn't stop touching, even as Lelouch pushed against him again and huffed that annoyed sound onto his chest. Lelouch's neck, his back, his arms, his sides, Suzaku let his fingers skip and roam everywhere. Lelouch groaned. "Mock me if you must, Suzaku, but I just can't do it again right now."

Suzaku just rolled Lelouch onto his back and leaned up above him. He wanted to look him over again, and again and again, but his eyes caught on Lelouch's face, flushed in both humiliation and pleasure, that too-bright gaze slipped to his right, away from Suzaku, and Suzaku found his heart nearly thrumming into his throat. "Lelouch, I don't care about that."

Though Suzaku's words were vague and imprecise, the tone was somehow enough to make Lelouch turn back to him, and that was what he needed in that instant. "You must know I don't care about that, about anything but..." Suzaku snatched Lelouch's hand, limp beside him on the sheet, and forced his fingers through Lelouch's slim ones. Suzaku never failed to marvel at them, at how fragile Lelouch's fingers seemed, yet how resilient, how strong nonetheless. The fingers of a man who used his mind to win battles and forced his body to try to keep up. "But this."

And even though Suzaku had always failed with words, had always only ever defeated anything with actions alone, and could never find the eloquence to bring men to their knees with words alone, still he saw Lelouch smile, and he thought maybe that was the only capitulation he would ever need. He leaned down for another kiss, careful to make sure Lelouch couldn't feel the hot length of him as he did, and took his mouth again.

And because no one could ever outmaneuver Lelouch, the slim man lifted one hand and caught Suzaku's member in a tight grip. Suzaku moaned into Lelouch's mouth, and even though the man couldn't say a word with his tongue so occupied, he still managed to press that damnable smirk up against Suzaku's lips.

* * *

><p>Once more, Lelouch tried to get away. That damn unconsciousness. It had planned this. It had most likely gotten rid of whatever deterrent it had initially given Suzaku, and with it so near, the pain was so much worse than before. Something he hadn't accounted for, because he'd pushed Suzaku from his mind like a lovesick fool. Of course the idiot would be at the docks waiting for him. He should have known.<p>

The images seemed to make both more and less sense now, the world shaking as he saw the screaming faces of the souls within the unconsciousness, blobs reaching out, wanting, wanting – wishes that weren't answered, greed that could never subside. Humans always wanted _more, more_ – and the Geass, the lords of it, the immortals like C.C. and himself, now, all in rows, eyes closed and heads dipped down as if in prayer, and he could _feel_ them now in a way he never could. He was one of them, a creature of desire, because Geasses were merely wishes, weren't they, and were merely a way to get what one wanted.

And he gasped as he saw the two worlds, mirroring each other, one above the other as if about to touch – the real world, reality, what was, and the world of possibilities, the illusory world of what could be, mirroring reality perfectly, because people, with their desires, would clash and battle until only one possible future would emerge victorious.

He was an immortal of Geass, he realized. Which meant, to him, his wants, his concerns, they all should have come first. And what had he wanted? Nunnally, happy, in a world that she loved. And that was what he'd fought for, at first. And for a moment, he'd almost had it – himself, Nunnally, Sayoko, and then, impossibly, Suzaku. If only, he'd thought countless times, they could all stay together in that perfect world.

But then he'd killed Euphemia, and that dream had turned to dust.

If he could have had anything, anything at all, and everything, what was it that he would have demanded? If he could order the world to be, not what he knew it needed to be, but what he _wanted_ it to be, what would he have used his Geass for?

He knew what he wanted. More than peace, or fulfillment, he wanted Nunnally and Suzaku. Happy, yes, of course. But in all honesty, if he looked into the darkest parts of his heart, didn't he simply _want_ them? His sister, smiling beside him. Suzaku, grinning at him, the memory of the man's lips on his. If he allowed himself to think about himself for just an instant, wouldn't that be what he wanted?

He'd pushed such thoughts away long before he'd become Emperor Lelouch. He'd not allowed himself to think anything else but what needed to be done to bring peace to the world, because it had been all he'd had left. His choice, to create a better world, to become whatever he must in order to make it happen – because yes, he'd wanted peace, too, more than, he'd thought, anything else, so he'd forced the world to acquiesce. But he hadn't forced Nunnally or Suzaku to accept the monster he'd become.

And he wouldn't. The thought hadn't ever crossed his mind, but apparently it _should_ have. He loved Nunnally. He loved Suzaku. And while he loved the world, he loved them enough to make the rest unnecessary. Hadn't he forced Suzaku to live on, even when the man wanted nothing more than to rest? Hadn't he almost let it all go when Nunnally had died? And hadn't he only continued because it was what Suzaku demanded of him?

In his own selfishness, he'd ordered them to continue on, because he couldn't imagine a world without them. And the only world he could imagine them being in, the only world he thought deserved them, was the one of peace that he'd fought to create.

But, if he'd gone further, taken just what it was that he'd wanted, then it would have been a world of peace with Nunnally and Suzaku loving him.

And he, a Geass user, had not taken what it was that he'd wanted. And in not taking it, in refusing to ever take it, he'd broken Eternity. No longer did it show two of the same worlds, but two very different ones. In one, Lelouch stood side-by-side with Suzaku, Nunnally sitting beside them both, Suzaku and Nunnally in their positions of power, yes, but Lelouch beside them, helping them. A family. And the world thriving in the peace he'd built.

If the unconsciousness – 'Wisdom' – wanted him to rectify the situation, then it obviously meant that it wanted him to do what he should have done before he'd become an immortal. He should have taken and taken until there was nothing more to take. He hadn't. He'd left Suzaku and Nunnally to hate him, even though it was the very last thing he'd wanted.

With his Geass, he could have ordained their love. But he would never have! Even if it was a deep wish, he would never have taken away their free will. He loved them for who they were, not for who he wanted them to be!

He struggled to get back, to shuffle far enough away to sever whatever link tore Eternity apart between them. The unconsciousness screamed inside his head again. He thought he saw familiar faces in there, and he endeavored to not recognize them, to not give names to the souls of those he himself had lost, the ones who may have conglomerated into the unconsciousness with whom he now spoke. How much knowledge, from how many sources, gave the unconsciousness the so-called wisdom it named itself after?

His head, his mind, his very body shook as he seemed to be pulled from the real world into the illusory world and back, over and over again, neither where he was supposed to be. He was real, he belonged in reality – but the person he was, the choices he'd made, were not real, were not what reality should have been.

And that meant, he realized with a gasp, that there was another way. Now he simply needed to get away from Suzaku and make it happen.

But when he moved, it was as if he was trying to cut through air more solid than the earth. When he breathed, it was as if he sucked air through a vacuum. More than with Nunnally, he realized, who still loved him, the problem was in the relationship with Suzaku (when had that not been a problem?). Suzaku, who, when seeing Lelouch alive, emptied a clip of bullets into his head.

Suzaku, who Lelouch wanted to love him the most, who hated him.

He curled into his mind as it wrenched and tore apart, ribbons of matter seeming to fly in a million directions, stretching into particles. Immortals should have already worn out their wishes and live fulfilled, full to bursting, until they learned the lesson that wanting itself was a curse, until they wished for nothing at all. But Lelouch, an immortal, a Geass user, still wished, because he'd used his Geass for his sister, for Suzaku, for the world, and left his own personal wishes unfulfilled.

And he felt Eternity, breaking, and felt himself breaking, too.

* * *

><p>It hit him, nearly a year after Lelouch's supposed death, that Lelouch hadn't aged.<p>

Lelouch stepped out of their shower, the door sealed tight as Suzaku slid Zero's pants on and watched Lelouch towel dry his hair. It wasn't as if he hadn't expected it; while they never really brought it up, it was a thorn that constantly pricked, a splinter too deep to extract; while Suzaku was a year older, his body slightly firmer, a half-inch taller, Lelouch was the exact same. Thin, pale, payment for exercising his mind above caring for his body. Still the same height, the same slightly youthful look to his cheeks, while Suzaku's had firmed and thinned, accentuating his cheekbones a bit more. He imagined himself turning thirty, forty, and Lelouch remaining eighteen forever.

It make his gut clench. Suddenly, he feared not Lelouch's death, but his own. When he and Nunnally died and there was no one who even knew he was alive (save for that damned C.C. woman), what would Lelouch become? Would he be the Lelouch Suzaku had once mistaken him for, the Lelouch that was Zero, a goal and nothing else? Would he become like the immortal woman, listless and manipulative without purpose, wandering aimlessly, searching for an end?

Suzaku went to Lelouch as the man turned toward the dresser, his hands knotting the towel around his waist. Suzaku touched those slim fingers, curled them in-between his, and slowly removed the towel from Lelouch's hips. With one hand, he touched Lelouch's side, the outer right hip, and traced the curving lines of Geass red. Lelouch sighed. "It is what it is, Suzaku."

Suzaku's lips thinned. Yes, it was what it was. And as usual, life wasn't fair. That didn't mean he couldn't be furious about it. "There must be something I can do."

It was an old argument, and Lelouch tensed. The immortal threw the towel aside. "There isn't. Nothing either of us would agree to. Drop it."

He wouldn't. He would find a way. No matter how long it took, if it was the last thing he did before he died. He would ensure that Lelouch was mortal, that he would die before he lost his mind and became C.C, or V. V, or Charles. He wrapped one arm around Lelouch's chest and curled his body against Lelouch's back. His other hand continued outlining the mark of Lelouch's curse. He buried his face in the crook of Lelouch's shoulder and breathed deep. Lelouch smelled of fresh soap from the shower, his body damp still, and Suzaku buried in a little deeper until he could find Lelouch's unique scent, like charcoal and electricity. He licked at it. Lelouch jumped, just a bit, and swallowed down a moan. One pale arm rose and gripped Suzaku's hair tight.

"Suzaaaku," Lelouch said, his voice hissing in the middle as Suzaku bit into the skin just before his neck. Lelouch's hips jerked into the air. Suzaku knew the moment Lelouch's mind stuttered and stopped; his eyelashes fluttered, his head fell back, and he breathed hard as Suzaku accepted the proffered skin and licked up to Lelouch's jaw. And Suzaku knew the instant Lelouch tried to get himself back under control; he felt Lelouch's muscles tense, watched those beautiful eyes close, heard Lelouch take a deep breath. And so he bit him, right there underneath his chin, and Lelouch gasped. Those eyes flashed back open. Suzaku hummed his pleasure and leaned forward. Lelouch lifted his head back and pulled Suzaku's head down for a kiss.

It would be ridiculous to liken it to fire or lava or lightning or ocean waves. It was more like a cresting inevitability, like the bright festival of dawn or the glimmering fireworks of a meteor shower: it would be, it had to be, it was. Even after a year, the feeling that each breath led to each kiss, that each thrum of his heartbeat pounded a countdown to their next joining, circled in his veins anew. During darker moments, he wondered if being with Euphemia would ever have felt like this. In light moments like this one, all he could feel was gratitude that it did here, with Lelouch, with the two of them. Soulmates.

Lelouch, when Suzaku allowed such sappy words to string the air, always snorted and rolled his eyes and called Suzaku a romantic, superstitious idiot. But it was true. This was something too right to be anything else. Hell, it had to be. With everything they'd done to one another, everything they'd become to one another, reaching this point was like reaching the edge of the universe and stepping off it back into home.

Suzaku tugged Lelouch back toward the bed. And though the dark-haired immortal grumbled about having just gotten clean, when Suzaku lay back against the sheets, Lelouch rolled over him and pulled Suzaku into a faster pace.

* * *

><p>Suzaku screamed. And as he screamed, he cried.<p>

* * *

><p>"Lelouch!"<p>

Suzaku raced forward, heedless of who could be watching, _listening_. He looked at that damned building and wanted to destroy it, to rip it to its foundations and leave behind nothing but boards and plaster. Lelouch was still inside, still trapped within; Suzaku hadn't seen him leave, and he'd watched, frantic, mindless, knowing Lelouch was immortal but unable to quell the remembered panic of a dead, limp Lelouch falling to his own blade.

The UFN sat in the middle of a cloud of smoke, smoke and whatever else Lelouch had strung together, Suzaku didn't know what. And Lelouch, ordering him to go and leave Lelouch alone with a woman who wanted their truths laid bare. Suzaku moved to cover his mouth, or to run a hand through his hair, and nearly banged his hand into the mask. Zero's mask. He snarled.

They'd sacrificed enough already. This woman didn't deserve to act as if any of this was hers to reveal. Lelouch had given up his mortality, his very existence in the eyes of the public, and, many would argue, his innocence, his goodness. Suzaku had given up his name, his identity, his hopes and goals, all in order to become what Lelouch needed him to be – what the world needed him to be. And they'd managed, through everything they'd sacrificed, to find one thing, just one thing, that made it all bearable. Suzaku couldn't let the immortal witch take it away.

He was ready to jump back into the building, to hell with Lelouch's orders, when he heard, far to his left, someone coughing horribly.

He ran.

It was Lelouch; even hacking and sucking wrenchingly for air, Suzaku could recognize that voice. He saw Lelouch's head, sparkling in that way that said he was still invisible, thankfully, and he ran, furious that his identity needed to remain secret, that he couldn't take off his mask and stuff it over Lelouch's face, guarding him from the worst of the smoke billowing around the man's face. As it was, he stopped in front of Lelouch and yanked up the window. "Lelouch," he said, then again, "Lelouch."

Lelouch shook his head, but Suzaku couldn't care about saying Lelouch's name in public or about Lelouch's immortality; it sounded like the man he loved was struggling to breathe, like his lungs were rattling up into his throat and choking him, and the window, the damned decorative window, wouldn't _move_. He yanked again, ready to break the damn thing if it got Lelouch free, but that pale hand reached out and clutched Suzaku's arm. Lelouch shook his head again, even as his shoulders shook.

Suzaku forced himself to step back, to let his hands fall so that people didn't wonder just what it was Zero was doing over by the open window of the UFN. And he endured with brittle silence the sound of Lelouch's hacking coughs. He even stood still as Lelouch wriggled his shoulders through the window, and barely restrained himself from helping as Lelouch nearly fell onto his head as he lost his balance halfway out the window. And as Lelouch stayed splayed on the ground, obviously trying to get control over his body, or perhaps trying merely to remain conscious. And more, as Lelouch pushed himself to his feet with trembling limbs and shaking legs, his body so weak from whatever it was he'd put in the UFN's air that he needed to lean against the wall to keep himself upright.

But when Lelouch pushed himself to the front of the building, each step nearly planting him back onto his face, he couldn't do it anymore. "Let me," he said quietly, and moved ahead of Lelouch. He would take care of Nunnally, guard her, until Lelouch could join them. It burned to leave Lelouch behind, in pain, vulnerable to the other immortal if she didn't fall for Lelouch's trap. But Suzaku wasn't sure that Lelouch would have bothered leaving the building simply to preserve his own existence. Undoubtedly, he would have stayed until it was too late, and he would have accepted whatever happened to him without blinking, without considering how it would affect Suzaku. The fool thought being immortal meant it was okay to... to _die_ right in front of Suzaku, simply because he would come back. Never mind what his last death had done to Suzaku. Never mind how it haunted his dreams until he pulled Lelouch into a hug so tight he woke the man into a grumbling tangle.

Suzaku kept Zero's head high as he met up with Nunnally and the Knight entourage, glad to see they'd taken it upon themselves to protect her, Kallen standing on guard just to Nunnally's right. He nodded to her, and she beamed. He didn't know how Lelouch had ever dealt with such loyalty. No matter how many times Lelouch said, "just live up to it," he didn't think that fully encompassed the pride and terror that gripped him when the Knights all turned to him, some wary, some curious, all prepared to follow whatever orders he gave.

But he ordered, anyway, because Lelouch was struggling to breathe and it was the job he'd accepted, and he wouldn't let Lelouch down.

* * *

><p>He met Lelouch at the docks, just as Lelouch had called to demand – the man could never just <em>request<em> anything – and found Lelouch perfectly fine, seemingly unharmed, standing in the emptied warehouse. His eyes had been slightly vacant, but they were vacant in that way that said Lelouch was playing some complex game or solving some unknown puzzle in his mind, and Suzaku had only to enter the building for Lelouch's eyes to clear and that smirk to grow so wide it could only be a grin. Suzaku wrenched his mask off and stomped up to Lelouch to drag him into a kiss. Lelouch fell into it, opened his mouth and sucked Suzaku in, and while Suzaku's member jumped, all he could _feel_ was relief. Even though he hated Lelouch's immortality, it was nice to know Lelouch could heal. That Lelouch, even if he bled, would live.

One year. Only one year, he thought, and he was back to his starting point, in awe of a man willing to lie and bear the brunt of the horrors for his little sister's sake, in love with someone who acted as if he didn't care about anything, when he in fact cared more than anyone Suzaku knew.

But he had another reason to go on this little quest to bring D.D. back to the World of C and end her immortality. He needed to know if there was another way to end it, one that didn't include killing the immortal. There had to be. Just as he didn't want to imagine dealing with Lelouch's death again, he didn't want Lelouch living forever, his memories of Suzaku fading with time, his kindness shifting into the ambivalence he faked, then into C.C.'s non-committance or into some perverse actualization of what Zero had been. And Lelouch _would_ degenerate; Suzaku often thought that, if not for the love Lelouch felt for his sister and his friends, Lelouch might have lost himself in mindless games and Zero's cruelty long before the idea of Zero actually surfaced.

So before that happened, he needed to go to the World of C. Threaten. Bargain. Plea. Anything, so long as Lelouch was made mortal. For everything he'd done for the world, for everything he'd created, there had to be _something_. Even though Suzaku no longer believed in fairness or equal opportunities, he could still believe in what Lelouch had told him once – that there was always _something_.

And he would find it.

* * *

><p>Lelouch wrenched away, even though he felt like his bones were breaking and grinding to dust, because no matter what pain he felt, he would recover, given enough time.<p>

Eternity screamed in a shower of snow and hail, a wind of sound that buffeted him as he fell back. It wasn't enough, and he panicked. He could hardly breathe, and each time he moved to crawl away, the pain shattered up and down his arms, his spine, his ribs, leaving his organs to tremble until they nearly burst. As if calling to him, the world rejected him and Suzaku and the reality he'd created with, of all things, the small amount of selflessness hidden in his selfish actions.

He would never take love not meant for him. And that was apparently his downfall.

Suddenly he felt hands under his body, pulling him away, and though he jerked and writhed in the hold, he was pulled inexorably back, away from Suzaku, and he nearly cried horribly humiliating tears of thankfulness. He gasped as soon as the link between the two of them was finally broken. When he looked up, it was with eyes swimming in tears of pain. And so it took him a moment to realize that the man holding him was Toudou.

* * *

><p>AN: How did this happen?! Lol, no, I know, but you'll have to wait until the next chapter. HA HA.


	15. Humanity

Disclaimer: What? Really? Does anyone here think I own Code Geass? Anyone? Is anyone that stupid? And, you know, for clarification, the obviously labeled quotes aren't mine. Nor are the obviously labeled songs.

Note: Hark? Doth I hear people complaining about my use of subbing for parts of these stories? /plugs ears/ Ah, it seems I doth not.

* * *

><p>"<em>Only the forgotten are truly dead."<em>

_-Tess Gerritsen_

* * *

><p>Only the Forgotten<p>

Chapter Fourteen

Humanity

* * *

><p>"Values are not just words, values are what we live by. They're about the causes that we champion and the people we fight for."<p>

~ John Kerry

Xingke kicked at the dirt, only now beginning to sprout new life after the battle that had clearly decimated the fields. There was no sign of any burial of the illustrious Emperor Lelouch, but that didn't mean much. Who would want to put sweat into burying such a man? Xingke had always known the man's arrogance, his conceit, but the lengths he would go to bring the world to order? No, he hadn't quite prepared himself for that. Even though he'd known the man worked through showmanship and deception, he hadn't recognized the evil in his heart. He'd thought there might have been something more – a desire to bring about peace at the cost of war, a normal, if base, rationale. He should have known that cunning man could be anything but base.

But while he was unsurprised that the man hadn't been buried, he was surprised to see no hint or sign of what the emperor. There was no sign of bone or body, even though it had only been a year. The fields hadn't been empty of humans long enough for large predators to have come and carried off pieces of the body, leaving the bones scattered. Only birds, carrion, and vermin would have feasted o it, and that would have left most of the bones in one area. Perhaps someone had come at some point to give the man a proper burial, but that should have left some sign, and there was none.

Which left him rather uneasy. He also found not one scrap of the emperor's old garb.

He tapped one finger against his bottom lip and thought. The emperor was almost certainly dead; while Zero and the Lady Nunnally couldn't be trusted, those who had touched the body, transported it, could. Unless he'd been picked up immediately after being dropped off – and that wouldn't be possible, seeing as there had been no ordained dumping grounds for his corpse, and it had only been known afterward as the men bragged about where they'd left the body – he would have quickly bled out, even if that large sword had somehow failed to slice open at least one organ. Which meant, yes, most likely dead.

_Most likely_. He highly disliked those words; they meant there was a slight, minute chance that someone had followed the truck, met up with the emperor's dying body, and carted it off somewhere before the man actually flatlined.

Those marks on the UFN's walls had almost certainly been Emperor Lelouch's. Even if the green-haired witch had received orders from the man, or had picked them up with his clothing after he'd been killed, it left the burning question of how that man's handwriting had found itself on the walls of the UFN when Xingke knew damn well they hadn't been there just the day before.

If Emperor Lelouch had somehow survived, it would make sense for it to take the man a long while to recover. He'd been stabbed by a thick blade straight into the chest. (Perhaps right below the lung? But the cut had been deep; he'd clearly seen the sword exiting the man's back, which meant it would have almost certainly hit the liver, most probably punctured straight through it, and if not, then certainly nicked it. A sword that large would have hit one or the other. But if it cut only the liver, then there was still a small chance he could have survived long enough to be saved.

Was it possible? Was the emperor actually alive? And if so, then Zero and that green-haired immortal were certainly in on it. Which meant that Emperor Lelouch's reign never really came to an end, did it? It just got better PR.

Yes, there was no doubt about it now. Whatever Zero was, he was not the fighter for justice and goodness. He was Lelouch's lackey. And who else could it be but Kururugi Suzaku, Emperor Lelouch's right-hand man, the only one he would have brought into his confidence? They'd never gotten to see Kururugi's body, after all; while everyone had assumed the man had died, Xingke could only assume he actually hadn't.

Which left Kururugi Suzaku continuing to follow the orders of the tyrant Lelouch vi Britannia, who now held the entire world his willing captive. And the only person available to stop it all was Xingke.

Xingke, who even as he stood in a pit in the middle of the dusty remains of an abandoned farmland, found himself shaking with sudden coughs, bent into himself as his lungs and throat burned and his body betrayed him. Him, a man standing at the precipice of his own death, about to leave Tianzi in a world of false peace?

No. He had to live. At least long enough to start a change. To bring all of the lies to light.

Suddenly he understood, viscerally, just what it was the white-haired woman was trying to accomplish. He needed to find her. Speak with her.

He heard the sound of a car coming and knew he'd run out of time. He'd known Toudou's woman would go to him, and he'd known she would bring the cavalry. He wanted to show them what he'd found, but it wasn't concrete enough yet. He needed Zero unmasked, or perhaps needed to find Lelouch himself. Either would work, so long as he got the time to find the white-haired woman and tell her his own plans. Just in case...

He bent over, once more coughing up his lungs, his body trembling with the strain. When the pain finally subsided, he spat out the blood in his mouth and stood straight again. "Rather polite of you to wait," he said, and hated how his voice rasped.

"Why beat a dead horse?"

The voice wasn't the one he'd been expecting, and he turned to find Jeremiah Gottwald grinning down at him from the top of the pit, his hair a centimeter longer than Xingke remembered. Beside the man stood a young woman with pink hair – Anya Alstreim, he remembered. One of the old Knights.

Xingke smirked. "Quite a collection of allies," he murmured, impressed despite himself. So many ghosts, so many secret assassins, ready and willing to come when called, all to protect a lie so cleverly orchestrated, even Xingke hadn't seen it. If it weren't for his fury, he might feel like applauding the man.

It wasn't what he'd been expecting; without the need to speak with them to determine just where they stood in Lelouch's little game, he didn't need to be out in the open at all. In fact, the threat was heavier, as Jeremiah or Anya could simply lift their hands – mildly waiting by their waists at the moment – and point a gun on him. But, it seemed, they had no intention of shooting him, so long as he remained, in their eyes, vulnerable. That would work. Even on the brink of death, he was not weak. "Long time, Orange."

The man smiled. Yes, he had willingly entered into service with the emperor. Or, if he hadn't, he hadn't the will to deny the emperor any longer. "Could have been longer, if you'd wanted."

Xingke tilted his head. So Jeremiah had been called specifically for him. Should he be honored? Or should he be concerned about how much the enemy knew about him? "This isn't something that should wait."

The outcropping they stood on wasn't too tall, only about seven feet up; while they had the advantage in height, they weren't so far away that he could dodge beneath the outcropping as a useful maneuver. They would be able to lean against the edge and shoot, or simply jump down to meet him. Most likely, one would take the high ground while the other came down to meet him. The one who followed him down – Gottwald, most likely – would attempt to lure him out so the other could shoot him. With his health waning, they just might succeed.

That left a more open approach. He would need a way to distract one while he took the other. Unfortunately, the barren farmland offered little distraction. "Tell me, Orange. Why have you allowed yourself to turn into that man's dog?"

Carefully hiding who 'that man' could be, knowing his dislike for Zero was well known enough to make those who didn't know about Emperor Lelouch think he was merely talking about the costumed hero. But Gottwald's smirk widened, and before the man even spoke, Xingke knew. Well, not that he'd had much doubt to begin with. "I have always been a loyal dog to those who deserve it."

Xingke didn't look toward Anya, but she neither seemed to agree nor disagree with his statement. Just what was her motive? Her face was blank as she stared down on him.

"That man deserves no loyalty."

Gottwald pulled out his gun. "My loyalty is not yours to decide."

Time to act. Xingke rolled, holding his breath when it seemed to choke him up again. He hit the wall of the pit running and used his momentum to climb the steep face. He heard someone step back, even as someone else followed after him. Anya, of course, was the one waiting for him when he reached the top. He rolled as she shot, then switched and ducked right as she shot again, just where he'd predicted she would. He grabbed her wrist, wrenched the gun clear. Before Gottwald could fire a round, Xingke swerved them around until Anya's back was to Gottwald. Her face still hadn't changed expressions. She merely pulled her wrist free of his grip and kicked out. He retreated, happy to leave Gottwald in the pit and out of range.

She was even faster outside of her Knightmare, tinier and quicker than a Knighmare could be. She was also smaller than he was used to. He had to block two punches before he got the difference in height. By that time, he'd managed to get her far enough away from the pit that Gottwald would have to jump back up to see them. He estimated himself about another twenty seconds. Gottwald was strong, strong enough to pull himself up the hard way, but not not much of a jumper. Five seconds to jump and adjust his grip, ten seconds to pull himself up, five seconds to grab his gun from his waistband and aim.

The first five seconds were spent learning her height, the next five on her fighting style. Swift movements, punctuated by attacks that used her speed as the source of her power. Kicks, backfists, and karate chops were most common. He blocked the next backfist – nine seconds left – and swept a foot out from beneath her. Anya's face didn't so much as twitch as she fell; before she could hit the ground, she stamped her foot back into the dusty ground and rolled. She fell about a meter away from him and continued rolling until she got back onto her feet, now covered in dirt. Six seconds.

With five seconds left, he raced toward her. She prepared for a direct attack, and he gave it to her. One solid punch against her waiting arms, blocking her face from his fist. One hand shifted beneath his fist and grabbed him. Good. As she moved to twist his arm behind his back, he planted his feet into the ground and grabbed her with his other arm. He threw her over his shoulder. She landed hard, far away from the pit and her gun. This time, her expression twitched. She let out a soft yell.

He raced toward the pit. Gottwald was already over the top, and the man grabbed Anya's gun before Xingke could use it. But he didn't need it. He pulled out his own. Behind him, he heard the sounds of Anya getting to her feet. He needed Gottwald alive, if only for information on just what Suzaku and the emperor had planned. He deliberately shot a bit late, letting Gottwald dodge the bullet, and then kicked him straight back into the ditch. Gottwald landed with a loud whump. Dust plumed over the edge of the pit.

Anya came at him again, and he ducked and shoved her back before she could do more than kick out at him. This time, he had no problem pulling the trigger. Anya caught the bullet with her shoulder and fell.

Xingke's chest heaved. He coughed as he made his way back to Gottwald. The pit wasn't deep enough to have caused the man any sort of permanent damage; indeed, as he crossed the lip, he found Gottwald getting to his feet once more. He pointed his gun at the man. If he had to, he would kill Anya and get all of his answers from Gottwald slowly. He bit his lip to rein in the next bout of coughing. Whatever it took.

Gottwald smiled, however, when he saw Xingke above him. "Seems our positions have been reversed."

Wasting time waiting for Anya to get back up? Xingke shot behind him. Anya scooted back, the bullet just missing her thigh, if he'd aimed properly. If she interfered, he wouldn't miss. "So it seems, Orange. How about you answer a few questions?"

But the man only smiled. He had no intention of answering anything. Not honestly. And Anya was planning something behind him. Of course she was; if she didn't, he could just kill her whenever he wanted. He considered the layout behind him. A gentle slop up a hill to the road, nothing but grass and the remains of a barn in between them and whatever vehicle Jeremiah and Anya had used to arrive. He would easily take her down the moment she chose to run. So running was out. She was far enough away that any attempt to attack him would leave her an open target. That meant dirty tricks. Trying to use the dirt, throw it at him? It would scatter too quickly, before it reached him. It wouldn't be effective. She had no projectile weapon. He hadn't seen a place for her to hide a knife or dagger. Her breasts were too small, her figure too lithe. Whatever she might have would have to be no bigger than a coin or a marble. Or a key? But there was no Knightmare nearby, and if there was, there was no way for her to reach it safely.

Not, of course, unless Jeremiah served as a distraction. And what loyal dog wouldn't give its life for its master?

Xingke shot Jeremiah in one arm, then the other. The man shouted, but it sounded more like rage. Good. Xingke wouldn't have anyone fighting back. He didn't have time to lose. "How long?" he asked. "Since before his supposed death, obviously. But when?"

Jeremiah glared up at him, his face scrunched up in pain. He was silent.

Anya shifted slightly. "Move and I'll shoot to kill," Xingke said. "I do not differentiate my response based on age or sex." She quieted. Good. Even if she attempted to find another way, it would take her too long. Even Xingke hadn't yet thought of a way for her to escape. "I can imagine you were in on the supposed kill. You did tell the other guards to stand back when Zero arrived to kill the emperor, after all." Xingke tilted his head. Jeremiah was good at keeping his face blank, but he was no master. There was only the tiniest of blinks to give away the hint, but it made it clear that the man had been under the emperor's thumb for quite some time before that. From the beginning? No. But certainly before he'd become an emperor. Anya, however, was likely a new addition. She followed Jeremiah.

Jeremiah's reason was obvious enough – the man always followed the Britannian royalty with blind loyalty. Anya most likely searched for somewhere to belong at the end of the war. She most likely had little to no real loyalty toward Emperor Lelouch.

Jeremiah was the link. The link for Anya, and the link for Xingke. The man seemed done taking in his new wounds, and when his glare finally faded from his eyes, he finally answered. "It's not a question of when I joined or when I didn't. It's a question of when was I accepted." The man's gaze changed. He looked fierce. Triumphant. Xingke would not defeat the man with words. It would take time, effort, to get information out of him. He would need outright torture. And Anya? He didn't even flick a glance in the woman's direction. She didn't know anything. She followed blindly, most likely to avoid being completely aimless. It was Jeremiah or nothing.

Somehow, the tyrant king had given this man faith. And like any of the devoted, Jeremiah would not be swayed.

"Gottwald." He would no longer call this man Orange. He would consider the name an honor. "Where is he now?"

The man's face didn't flicker this time. He didn't look around, or away. There was no hint at all. Just one short thinning of his lips. Unbelievable. The man showed such loyalty, and he didn't even know where his leader was hidden. Useless! The only thing left, then, was to use him to convince Toudou. Gaining that man's alliance would mean gaining the alliance of all the other Knights. They followed him just as Gottwald followed the old king.

And there they were. He could hear the motor of a car. What were the chances that it _wasn't_ Toudou and his girlfriend? And it was; the motor stilled. It would be best to get Jeremiah talking some more. Quickly. "So you don't know where he is. What's his plan? Silence the white-haired woman and continue his charade? What for?" The road was too far away to hear anything clearly, but by now, Toudou and his woman would be out of the vehicle. They would be heading this way. "To control the world? What kind of future do they plan to create?"

Jeremiah pulled his teeth back. "They've already created it."

There. Toudou should have been within hearing distance with that one.

Xingke turned slightly to look over his shoulder, anticipating Toudou's quickened pace a he heard their voices. And as he'd predicted, Toudou quickly showed over the edge of the hill, rushing toward the sounds of their confrontation. His gun was out. Good. Xingke opened his mouth to speak.

Toudou took on look down the hill, pulled out his gun before Xingke could do more than grunt, and shot. At him. Xingke shouted inarticulately and rolled. The bullet slid like a knife across his right arm.

He turned to point his gun at Toudou, but his girlfriend was right there next to him, her mouth a tight frown as she fired, as well. He opened his mouth again as he dodged, this time to yell at them to stop, when a horrible thought slid viscously through his mind.

Could it be? Could Lelouch managed to have gotten not just the mindless dog Jeremiah Gottwald, not merely the lost and drifting ex-Knight, Anya, but also the extremely honorable and venerated Toudou? _Geass_, he immediately thought, and snarled at it. Could it be? Could the man have used such a think on Toudou? But of course he could have. He might have even used the thing on Empress Tianzi. He hadn't known to look for it, and it would only have taken a moment... what could he do to break such a spell? Would the man's death suffice?

"Stop," Toudou ordered, and Xingke took stock of his options. Anya and Jeremiah were both moving again, and now that it was four against one, he was surrounded. Anya would retrieve her weapon from Gottwald. And even if she didn't, she cold act as easy distraction while the other three got him in their sights. With Gottwald on one side and Toudou and his woman on the other, it would be a very short battle before one of them took him down.

He turned his gaze to Toudou and stopped moving. There was no sign of hesitation in the man's features. Loyalty or manipulation? Until he knew, he wouldn't know how to take Toudou ou tof the game. Twist his loyalties? Divide and conquer? Or just get rid of him, if his mind had been taken from him completely?

"How about we just talk for a bit?" Jeremiah said. Xingke swiveled to face him. He'd pulled himself out of the pit, and he now stood with gun in hand, facing Xingke down much in the same way Toudou did.

Talk. It would waste time, give him a chance to escape, or perhaps even turn the situation around to his advantage. "I have no interest in talking any further with you."

"Of course." Yet Gottwald did not move to take any action. "But you've stumbled – yes, stumbled, don't glare at me like that – into something you clearly don't understand."

"Don't understand? You've chosen to continue that man's reign!" Xingke snarled. Toudou didn't allow a single opening, yet with merely a small twitch, he sent Chiba around to flank him. The situation was getting worse. He'd made a grave error in trusting in Toudou's goodness. "I don't misunderstand anything. You're his allies. Which means you're my enemies."

Gottwald snorted. "You've chosen the wrong side."

"Wrong side? How could I have?" Xingke swept an arm, hoping the movement would distract. It didn't. Of course not. He needed them to lose their temper now, to think he'd lost his. He needed a change in the situation. Fast. "You're the ones who've sided with the tyrant king!"

Gottwald shook his head. "You sided with truth over peace."

"They should be one and the same!"

"We are humans," Gottwald snapped. "We cannot have both!"

There. There would be no better time. Xingke ducked low, made himself as small a target as possible, and dove for the pit. Another bullet ricocheted off his shoulder, the same injured arm as before, but he managed to get down into the dirt with little difficulty. This would only give him a few seconds. He still had his gun, and if they tried to target him one by one, or sent only one down, he could take them down with a minimum of difficulty. Unlike before, he was ready for the attack.

But if they came in force, two of three jumping down (Anya would be the one to stay up, so she could grab her gun while the other three distracted him), they could gun him down with sheer force of numbers.

But they would be expecting a fight. They would expect him to jump up, to try to make it back tot he ambulance, or perhaps to try to steal their cars, if they'd left them running. So defense, at the moment, would be the best offense. He would have to make his escape carefully. He would have to abandon the vehicles.

There were no buildings tall enough to support an attempt to escape. The nearest building was the house, most likely of the people who had once owned the barn. He couldn't make it so far with standard running. Any one of his four pursuers – save, perhaps, for Toudou's woman – would be able to hit him. That left him needing a distraction.

Quickly, he bent down and grabbed some dirt. Honor meant nothing when dealing with these sort of people. Scheming, conniving, manipulative people, daring to stand in the light and use their own shadow to hide their daggers.

He heard them above him. Yes, that was Anya going for her weapon. Which meant they would create a distraction. But it was most likely that none of them would jump down. No. They wouldn't risk their lives for him. And now that he was in the pit, he was veritably trapped. He used that thinking against them and jumped out, throwing the dirt in their faces. Gottwald and Toudou covered their eyes in time, Chiba a split second slower than them. Anya was clear, too low to the ground and facing away. They would expect an attack now. He went against that thinking again and kicked the edge of the pit, an X kick that clipped the edge. Just enough to kick up the dust there; this time Toudou and Gottwald couldn't cover their eyes in time. He wouldn't make the mistake of attacking them. Not in this position. They were already rolling blindly, attempting to dodge his gunshots. They would recover in another two seconds or so. Already he was running, once more using his momentum to get himself up over the ledge. His body spasmed as he reached the top. He was already at his limit. He snarled. No. He couldn't leave Tianzi surrounded by these people.

He stumbled once, his lungs constricting in his chest, before he managed to recover and dash for the dubious safety of the house. It was far; about one hundred, one hundred fifty meters away. About three hundred twenty-five to five hundred feet. One hundred ten to one hundred sixty-six yards. Calculating the distance distracted him from how difficult it suddenly was to breathe, how uncoordinated his body was becoming.

They finally started firing, having recovered and discovered his retreat. He swerved as much as he could, but took a deeper graze, deep enough that the bullet nearly got stuck in his upper left thigh. He winced and nearly fell. His balance was leaving him; his inability to breathe left his body shaky. But finally he ate up that distance and skirted behind the house wall. He turned, ready to begin a quick evacuation – a table, a chair, the door of the refrigerator if he had to – but stopped.

Here was the evidence he'd been looking for all this time. While the place already had a busted-down look to it, abandoned for years by people who were obviously in a rush to leave – there was something else to it all. It had been too long to make out dust tracks or dirt stains, yet he was positive the place had been gone over by someone after the inhabitants had already left. Clothes that had likely once been scattered on the floor were now in tiny piles, one or two items apiece, as if the looters were looking quickly but still keeping a disordered order to it all.

He didn't have time to look closer, to see anything more, but he didn't need to. This was all he needed. The slightest evidence that the emperor might still be alive. Useless now; Gottwald's presence, Toudou's betrayal, proved all of that. But still there was a heightened sense of triumph, and of urgency, as he took in the sight before him. Yes, there it was again – the table, sitting cracked on the floor, at a slightly different angle than the chairs clustered around it. Not enough to cause alarm – but enough to cause suspicion. Even without Gottwald or Toudou, when he'd finally traveled out from beside the pit to search for clues, he would have seen this, and he would have known. Now he just had to figure out what to do with the information.

No one could be trusted. That was clearer than ever now, as he ripped the table apart and struggled to keep his breath together. The others were getting every closer as he hesitated. Without having anyone as backup, going anywhere near them would bring death on his head. He needed somewhere safe, someplace empty of the others, to think. To plan.

Using the cracked table piece as a shield, he hurried to the back entrance of the house – and the kitchen window next to it, above the sink. It was still intact, unfortunately, and he had to waste a spare minute getting it up and the screen out. He went through shield first, using the sink as a launching pad and rolling once he slammed into the ground. It hurt, up from his injured shoulder and arm down his back, but he kept moving. Someone fired at him. Someone else used the firing person as a distraction to sprint closer. He shot blindly toward the sound until it stopped. Most likely Anya, or perhaps Chiba. No. Anya. Chiba was a soldier. She thought in tactics and old strategies, not in creative maneuvers.

He wouldn't be surprised to find they'd tried to keep the ambulance from running. But ambulances weren't like other cars; one couldn't just open the hood and take the car apart. The hoods were locked. He'd already hotwired the thing earlier; all he had to do was click the wires together again. It would be faster than stealing their cars. Especially since they were following him up the hill. Undoubtedly, one of them had turned around to meet him from the other side.

Then a small miracle happened: a car came.

Xingke waved at the person as they passed, just enough to make clearer what they could already see: one man, attempting to escape from several armed enemies, half of whom were dressed as Zero's lauded Knights. It was perfect. The person stared, slowed a bit, looked at the road beneath their car, and hurried off. The moment they'd looked down, Xingke was in the clear. The cops were being called. The person had searched for the highway mile marker.

The car and the person in side it also gave Xingke the time needed to return to the ambulance, his enemies frozen as they wondered just how to proceed. Xingke managed to get into the ambulance before the car rounded the nearest bend and moved out of sight. The split second they used to recover gave him the time to bend down, lungs nearly burning, breaths coming in harsh gasps, and grab the wires. He snicked them together as they finally converged on him again.

Without getting up, he grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and slammed down the gas with his other. His lungs would not be ignored any longer; as the ambulance lurched forward, bucking into the wrong lane before he got it under control, he coughed. Hard, biting coughs that shook his chest and left his legs weak. He shook as his body struggled for air. Something wet rose like bile in his throat until he tasted it on his tongue. It splattered to the floor. The bitter, rusty tang sank into his taste buds.

He had no time. He had to hurry.

* * *

><p>Toudou watched the ambulance swerve drunkenly away. Chiba stood beside him, her stone face crinkling at its edges, showing her confusion, her anger. She'd sided with him, as she always had. But in siding with him, she'd stood with Jeremiah Gottwald and Anya Alstreim. Two people known to have been affiliated with the emperor, people who had run away in disgrace after the death of Lelouch. The supposed death of Lelouch.<p>

Toudou took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Gottwald."

Gottwald hurried to his vehicle, a Jeep rusted over by time. Its tires, however, were nearly brand new. "Not now, Toudou. Though, thanks, you know." The man waved the words away as if they meant nothing. They did. It was clear Gottwald had come on Lelouch's urging. Which meant Gottwald was still trusted to be given orders, while Toudou had been let free. Because Gottwald had remained by Lelouch's side until the end, and Toudou had turned from him. His fingers clenched at the knowledge.

But it was true that he was in the way. If he stopped the man to ask him questions, Xingke would get away. And two cars following him would be much easier to see, and to avoid. Though Gottwald would certainly be seen in his ostentatious vehicle. "Take my car," he said, and waited for Gottwald to give him a wide-eyed stare before tossing the man his keys.

It would still be recognizable to Xingke, since the man likely knew the make and model of every Knight's car. But it was better than nothing. "If you need to switch vehicles, do so. I'll find my car again eventually."

Gottwald stared for an instant longer, then held up the keys. "Thank you. I bet yours gets better mileage, anyway." He turned to Toudou's simple, silver model. Chiba nearly vibrated beside him, clearly fighting the urge to raise her weapon on them. People she still considered enemies.

Gottwald's phone rang.

The man cursed and picked it up, not bothering to look at the caller ID. Apparently he had a good idea of who it may be. "He slipped away. I need to go," he said, practically speaking before the phone reached his ear.

Toudou jolted. Was that him on the other side of the line? His voice, so close Toudou could literally reach out and touch it. Take it from Gottwald. His fingers shook in his fists. He could not. It was clear who had betrayed him. And if he took the phone away now, he would only be getting in the way.

He'd thought chasing down Xingke was something he could do. Something he could help Lelouch with without getting in his way. But once again, he was on the sidelines, oblivious to the plans Lelouch made. Unable to hear them, or be a part of them, or even know of them. He fumbled blindly, trapped between two sides – the oblivious soldier standing dutifully beside the new Zero, the reawakened loyalist wishing to stand beside his old leader. He could be neither now, too aware to stand in shadow again, too far away to see more than flickers ahead of him.

"What?" Gottwald said, and his tone snapped Toudou from his self-effacement. It sounded almost panicked. "What the hell does that mean?" The man sent a quick glance Toudou's way. He stiffened. "I – are you serious?" Gottwald ran a hand through his hair. He cursed, then again. And again. It became a long stream. He was racing to his jeep again. Toudou hurried to his side and grabbed his arm. Gottwald turned on him. "What?" he snapped.

"What can I do to help?" he asked.

Everything stopped for a short second. Chiba hissed in a short breath from behind him. Jeremiah stared at him. Anya reached into her pocket, pulled out a camera, and clicked a picture of him.

"What?" Jeremiah said again, all heat in the word gone.

"Whatever it is you must do, I can still chase Xingke." He looked ahead. It would be harder now; the man had gotten away during the phone call. But if it was something that would help, he would scour the entire city if he had to.

Jeremiah frowned. Toudou didn't know quite what the man was thinking. He and Gottwald had never interacted much; they'd usually been on opposing sides during the battles, and outside of them, there was no point in speaking with a clear enemy. Now he wished he'd paid more attention; obviously Lelouch had seen something in this man. Which meant there was something honorable in him. Something more than Toudou had bothered to find.

"It has to be me," Jeremiah said. Toudou's gut twisted. Of course it did. He was nothing but a detriment now. The thought burned. "I have a better ability to track people. But..." Gottwald looked to his phone, then back to Toudou. He could barely believe the hope in him.

"If it will help _him_," he said, emphasizing the word to show he didn't mean simply Zero, "then I'll do it."

Jeremiah hesitated one more time before finally nodding. "He's down at Pier 42 at the Edgewood Docks. Something's happened. According to C.C, it's bad."

C.C. So it had been her voice on the other end of the line. That meant Lelouch was in trouble. Having difficulties taking on everything alone? Because now he had to, since he'd lost those who should have been loyal to him.

This was a chance to set it right. To make up for his earlier betrayal. Hope shimmered translucent beneath his skin. "I'll take care of it. I swear it."

Gottwald hesitated a moment longer. Anya looked up to him and took another picture. Then she turned and headed for Toudou's car. Gottwald handed Toudou the keys to the Jeep and followed her, taking the driver's seat as Anya looked over the pictures she'd just taken.

Chiba stared at him as he made his way to the Jeep. She did not follow immediately, and he paused. Jeremiah turned the engine over and hit the gas, racing away as Chiba faced off against him. She said nothing. She didn't have to speak. They'd known each other for too long to need words. She needed to know what was happening. She deserved to know, before she put her life at risk again.

"I have dishonored myself," he told her, because it was the most important thing she needed to know. She frowned, not understanding, but giving him the chance to explain. He could tell she was wondering if his actions just now were what he spoke of; she couldn't know his words worked back to over a year ago. "I did not understand what was happening. What Zero had been planning."

Her frown deepened. She understood – she thought she understood – that he'd chosen to return to Zero because he was a symbol more than a man. She didn't know the secret he did, that Suzaku lay underneath the cape. She only knew that Toudou believed staying by Zero's side now was a recompense, an insurance that this time, Zero would do the right thing, and Toudou would, as well. Truthfully, Toudou didn't know if she should be told the truth. Even he hadn't been told; he'd merely found out for himself. It would be a grievous mistake to involve her if she couldn't keep the secret hidden. It was just as Gottwald had said – if people wanted peace, they needed the lie. It fed their craving to blame another. To pawn their problems on the back of someone else. Arrogance, pride – these were realities of the human psyche. And if these arrogant, proud people found they'd been played? That they were even more to blame than they were before, for having happily swallowed the lie and persecuted someone else? Peace would be lost. Truth or peace. One could not have both.

But still, he chose to tell her. Because he loved her, and he believed in her.

"I did not understand that he was going to choose to be a martyr. To die for a cause I wanted to survive. To sacrifice more than me." She shook her head, not understanding. "I betrayed him. Turned from him. I left him to continue the cause alone. I did not trust in his judgment to the end. I forsook my vow to stand by him."

Chiba's brow dipped. It took her a few moments to work through the past, trying to see when he'd forsook any vows in the past year. Then she froze, and he knew she understood. She shook her head. "I don't..."

It wasn't usual for her to interrupt him. When he spoke again, she instinctively went quiet once more. "I attempted to make up for my mistakes, in the only way I could. I returned to the side of the one he'd chosen to continue his legacy. The side of the man I had once fought. I believed it to be all I could do for him."

She shook her head again. "What do you mean? _He_ betrayed _us_."

Toudou shook his head. "He chose to be evil. And then he chose to be killed."

This time, it only took her a third of the time to come to understand what he meant. She paled. "That can't have been his plan."

"We have seen him plan better from worse."

She shook her head, but he could tell it was more in denial than in disbelief. Then she caught the full meaning of his words. "We _have_ seen?"

"Yes. I believe he's still alive."

She backed up a step, her head once more shaking in disbelief. "No. We saw him gutted, Toudou. Right before our eyes."

"Yes. He would no longer be human."

She stilled once more. It was time wasted, but he would not force her to remain beside him if she disagreed with his choice. And disagree she seemed, at the very least. She turned way from him. It was the very first time he could remember her doing so. "Why would you never tell me?"

"About Suzaku and Lelouch's plan to die for the cause, I knew as soon as I witnessed Zero's miraculous return." Chiba flinched. "I understood it to be something I was not supposed to know. Something I had no right to know, since that moment I turned from him. It was not for my ears, or my lips."

Chiba turned back to him, and in her eyes he saw that she understood. He was not supposed to know. He carried the weight of his sin alone, both because it was his to bear and because he had no right to speak of it.

"I learned of his continued existence only after the attack on the UFN." She frowned again, but this time he could see her thinking. Remembering. Certainly he'd acted differently after that moment. That revelation had changed him. He had only then realized just how out of the loop he'd become. Just how much he'd missed. "He'd kept himself hidden from the world for a year, and only returned when Zero was in danger – when the charade was being brought to light. I believe his goal is to continue it for as long as possible. With his new... existence, I believe it to be very possible that it will last a long, long time."

Chiba's face fluctuated between bright, wide eyes and deep, snarling frowns. Finally she closed her eyes. "You want to help him."

"I want to regain my honor."

Without opening her eyes, she asked, "do you believe in this peace, sir? Do you believe it's real? That it's worth anything?"

"I believe it is worth everything."

Finally, she opened her eyes again. She nodded, though she did not smile. "Then I will stand by you, Toudou. As I always have."

Her opinion of him did not change. Not because of his secrets, and not because of his failures. Her loyalty was as yet undeserved. He would earn it again. "Thank you, Chiba."

She lifted her hand as if to touch him, then stopped. She nodded and lowered it back to her side. "I will not abandon you, sir. You have me until death."

Toudou nodded. It was time to go.

* * *

><p>Before they even parked the jeep on the side of the road by the pier, Toudou knew exactly why Gottwald had been frantically called to the scene. He could hear the screams even from where he stood. They led him to the crowd, a group of people more interested in staring than in doing. Toudou shoved his way through, shouting his name and rank until people gave way to him. Chiba followed just behind him, using his bulk as her plow. The reservation in her eyes gave way at the scene before them. Zero sat on the ground, hands over his mask as if trying to cover his eyes and ears. His voice, distorted through the mask, sounded like a ghoul wailing, a mix of fury and fear. He stood beside a small warehouse, too small to be for average cargo, most likely a distribution house or building for specific wares. The door opened a bit, though there was no one there. It closed again, once more without assistance. And a few meters from Suzaku, something like a ghost flickered in Toudou's eyesight.<p>

Toudou's lips thinned. "Get rid of these people," he ordered, and Chiba turned to do as he commanded without question. He stalked forward.

His first concern was for Suzaku. The man's screams were worse than anything he'd thought he could imagine – save the screams that flickered in and out with the human-like vision, a vision that grew more pronounced by the second. Chiba snapped at the people gawking like tourists at someone's pain, flashing her Knight insignia as she did. Quickly, he checked Suzaku, what little of him he could see through the outfit. There were no visible cuts or holes, no rips in the fabric. What was causing such a fuss?

"Psst!"

Toudou lifted his head, careful not to look at the warehouse as the voice slowly filtered through his recognition. He'd heard her voice in the UFN, even seen her, but it was something else to realize she was speaking privately to him. Him, the betrayer.

"Move him! They're too close to each other!"

It made no sense, but Toudou made to do as commanded. As soon as he touched Suzaku, however, the boy wrenched free and shook his head violently. He huddled into himself, seemingly trapped where he sat. Someone murmured at 'Zero's' actions.

Toudou turned. The crowd was thinning, but not quickly enough. He quickly moved to stand before the shimmering form – more there than not now – and ducked low. People stared, but one glare and they turned away.

Lelouch's secret had nearly come out. He was somehow phasing back into vision – and his screams were not like Suzaku's at all. While Suzaku screamed as if trapped in a nightmare, Lelouch screamed as if he was being tortured. Finally the crowd gave way to Chiba's threats to arrest anyone remaining in the vicinity, and Toudou watched the last of the group turn almost as one, unwilling to be the last to face Chiba's ire. It sounded like she might have been taking out some of her frustrations on the gathering. Good for her.

Finally it was good enough. Toudou quickly wrapped his hands underneath Lelouch's arms and pulled. The man was light, lighter even than Toudou had expected, even though he'd known Lelouch had never been much of a fighter. He managed to pull Lelouch a few meters without hardly feeling the weight. The screaming cut off on a dime.

Lelouch flickered into life before his very eyes, plain for anyone to see. He heard the warehouse door open again. Lelouch's eyes snapped open, the amethyst irises bright in the daylight. Those eyes widened; those thin brows furrowed. And then, with a short look of horror, Lelouch disappeared. If it weren't for the pressure against his hands where he still held the man, he would have thought Lelouch vanished entirely.

He let go the moment Lelouch began to struggle. That look of horror said everything Toudou hadn't wanted to hear.

He wasn't welcome here.


End file.
